Only 13% of Wikipedia contributors are women

Author: admin

1 Sep

You say you don’t trust Wikipedia? Well, you can blame men, at least for the most part. According to a survey of 175,000 Wikipedia users, about a third of respondents reported that they actually help write and edit encyclopedia entries — as opposed to merely reading them — and of that group women constitute a paltry 13%.

That more men than women take the time to write, edit and wrangle over Wikipedia entries is not surprising. However, that the disparity between the participation of the sexes is so cavernous may raise eyebrows.

The November survey, which had some 175,000 valid responses, was conducted in multiple languages by the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates the site, and United Nations University’s tech-research program MERIT. They presented the initial findings last week at Wikimania, an annual conference held this year in Buenos Aires. A comprehensive report is scheduled for November.

Of the 53,888 respondents who said they contribute to Wikipedia, only 6,814 were women (12.6%). The male/female ratio is closer among those who read entries but don’t write or edit them: 69% men to 31% women. Next >>