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WP:clubhouse?: an exploration of Wikipedia's gender imbalance

Published:03 October 2011Publication History

ABSTRACT

Wikipedia has rapidly become an invaluable destination for millions of information-seeking users. However, media reports suggest an important challenge: only a small fraction of Wikipedia's legion of volunteer editors are female. In the current work, we present a scientific exploration of the gender imbalance in the English Wikipedia's population of editors. We look at the nature of the imbalance itself, its effects on the quality of the encyclopedia, and several conflict-related factors that may be contributing to the gender gap. Our findings confirm the presence of a large gender gap among editors and a corresponding gender-oriented disparity in the content of Wikipedia's articles. Further, we find evidence hinting at a culture that may be resistant to female participation.

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        • Published in

          cover image ACM Other conferences
          WikiSym '11: Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration
          October 2011
          245 pages
          ISBN:9781450309097
          DOI:10.1145/2038558
          • Conference Chair:
          • Felipe Ortega,
          • Program Chair:
          • Andrea Forte

          Copyright © 2011 ACM

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          Publication History

          • Published: 3 October 2011

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