Presentation from Wikimania 2013 Hong Kong about promoting gender diversity in Wikipedia.

1. W ikipe dia
Dive r sity
PROMOTING GENDER DIVERSITY IN WIKIPEDIA AS A BALANCING ACT
ILONABUCHEM, Professor for DIGITAL MEDIA& DIVERSITY
GENDERAND TECHNOLOGY CENTER
BEUTH UNIVERSITY OFAPPLIED SCIENCES BERLIN, GERMANY
in cooperation with WIKIMEDIADEUTSCHLAND e.V.
WIKIMANIA 2013 - THE INTERNATIONAL WIKIMANIA CONFERENCE, HONG KONG // 10.08.2013 // CC BY-SA
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2. WHAT IS DIVERSITY?
2WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
Diversity is:
• variety,
• plurality,
• multiplicity
But of what?
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3. (SOME) DIVERSITY TYPES
3WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
Socio-demographic diversity
> gender, age, citizenship ...
Role/Position-related diversity
> editor, admin, steward ...
Epistemic diversity
> topics, arguments, references ...
Cognitive-affective diversity
> intelligence, reasoning, attitudes ...
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4. A. WHY CHANGING ANYTHING?
4WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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5. WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
Approx. 90% male users in the editor base:
SO WHAT???
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6. REASON #1
The editor base is declining ...
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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7. 7WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
“Post-2007, lots of people were still
trying to become Wikipedia editors.
What had changed, though, is that they
were increasingly failing to integrate
into the Wikipedia community, and failing
increasingly quickly.”
Sue Gardner http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/March_2011_Update
EDITOR RETENTION
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8. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Decline_Theories_And_Support.pdf
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
DECLINE THEORIES
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9. The average contributor to Wikipedia is
"a 26-year-old geeky male who moves on to other
ventures, gets married and leaves the website."
Jimmy Wales
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
http://gajitz.com/intergalactic-love-story-stormtroopers-marriage-photos/
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10. “Twitter and Facebook have sucked up all the
cognitive surplus younger internet users might
have once devoted to building up Wikipedia and
shattered it into a million fleeting hashtags.”
Gawker.com
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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11. WORKLOAD PROBLEM
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
“That's a problem for everyone, because it
means that experienced editors are needing
to shoulder an ever-increasing workload,
and bureaucrat and administrator
positions are growing ever-harder to fill.”
Sue Gardner, http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/
March_2011_Update
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12. http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/08/wikipedia-needs-more-single-geeky-men/40841/
12WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
SOLUTION #1
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13. 13WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
SOLUTION #2
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14. REASON #2
Perspective bias in articles ...
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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15. “The paucity of information available on Wikipedia about
MacKinnon [feminist, lawyer] and Marshall [the first
African-American Justice appointed to the Supreme
Court, US] is merely reflective of the fact that Sideshow
Bob [character in The Simpsons] is what interests the
site’s 90% male contributors, not historical figures who
are of significance to minorities. Also, the lack of
information on Wikipedia about the two is not because
there is a lack of information in general [...]. It just means
that nobody cared that much to enrich the article.”
http://www.webpronews.com/wikipedia-editors-are-basically-all-dudes-should-that-matter-2012-04
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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16. 16
HISTORICAL FIGURES, SCIENTISTS, POLITICIANS
http://www.webpronews.com/wikipedia-editors-are-basically-all-dudes-should-that-matter-2012-04
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
WOMEN BIOGRAPHIES
Note: Betweenness centrality quantifies the number of times a node acts as a bridge along the
shortest path between two other nodes. // Centrality in graph theory // Wikipedia
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17. 17WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
CONTENT COVERAGE
http://mashable.com/2012/08/08/wikipedia-gender-graphic/
“Table 1 shows our results, which indicate that males and females are
focused on disparate content areas within Wikipedia. There is a
greater concentration of females in the People and Arts areas, while
males focus more on Geography and Science.” In: “WP: Clubhouse?”
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18. 18WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
MEANING NEGOTIATION
http://www.npr.org/2013/04/29/179850435/what-s-in-a-category-women-novelists-spark-wiki-controversy
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19. REASON #3
The image of free & open ...
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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20. INTERNATIONAL PRESS
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
Wikisexism
Ghettoizing
Exclusion
EN
PL
DE
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21. DIVERSITY IN GERMAN WP
B. WHAT IS OUR PROJECT ABOUT?
21WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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22. • Gender & Technology Center @Beuth University, Berlin
• In cooperation with Wikimedia Deutschland
• One of 5 annual projects on “Enhancing knowledge
diversity in Wikipedia” run by Wikimedia Deutschland
• Focus on gender diversity, later other diversity aspects
• Aim: Diversity concept with guidelines & set of actions
• Method: Open innovation approach & transdisciplinarity
22WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
WIKIPEDIA DIVERSITY (WiDi)
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23. OPEN INNOVATION
23WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-NC-SA
Stage 1
OPEN CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Stage 2
SELECTED CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Stage 3
CLOSED CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
CROWD CHALLENGES : IDEA CREATION : CROWDSOURCING
INVITED EXPERTS : GRAND CHALLENGES : FOCUSED ACTIONS
AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS : LEARNING RESOURCES : STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT
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24. 24
skills
attitudes
....
regulations
structures
...
Based on the diversity model by Koeppel (2012)
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
CAN
WANT
DIVERSITY TRIANGLE
MAY
motivations
preferences
....
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25. GENDER
DIVERSITY
welcome culture
WELCOME
role of gender diversity
QUALITY
gender imbalance
AWARENESS
gender & motivation
PARTICIPATION
supportive communication
RESPECT
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
aims & priorities
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
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26. I. AWARENESS
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
gender gap awareness
• diversity guide
• diversity portal
• diversity scouting
no awareness
without information!
hidden good practice
have no idea
under-/overestimate
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27. EXAMPLE: INFOGRAPHICS
A draft of an banner for GermanWP (student project)
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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28. II. WELCOME
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
little recognition
power battles
nitpicking
problems with an attitude
• newcomers
• local heros
• workshops
• save spaces
no welcome
without service!
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29. EXAMPLE: BREAK STEREOTYPES
A story board for a film for GermanWP (student project)
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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30. III. SUPPORTIVE
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
problems with communication
• declaration
• learning resources
• conflict mediation
• reputation
no support
without commitment!
no support
insider jargon
unfriendly tone
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31. EXAMPLE FEEDBACK TRAINER
An concept of a feedback trainer (student project)
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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32. IV. QUALITY
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
problems with systemic bias
• research
• mapping effects
• existing tools
no quality
without understanding!
perspectives
missing content
categorisations
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33. V. MOTIVATION
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
problems with participation
• reasons & drivers
• building networks
• editing events
no participation
without support!
prefer other activities
have no time
enjoy social media
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34. EXAMPLE: WOMEN EDIT
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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35. DOING GENDER MATTERS
C. WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES?
35WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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36. 36
Bottom-up
Inclusive
Self-policing
Autonomy
Change
Focus
Mediation
Support
BALANCING GENDER
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
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37. WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
JOIN US!
Meet up // Saturday // 15:30 - 16:30
Meet up // Sunday // 13:30 - 14:00
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38. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Diversity_Conference
WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA
SAVE THE DATE
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39. ILONA BUCHEM
buchem@beuth-hochschule.de
CURATED RESOURCES ON GENDER-DIVERSITY:
http://www.scoop.it/t/wikipedia-gender
39WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-NC-SA
GET IN TOUCH!
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40. Mind Map
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41. Google Survey
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