Report to Colleagues Interested in Gender and Culture in the Wikipedia Classroom,
It will be no surprise to you that getting used to Wikipedia contributing is a process, and as far as I understand, this is a forum for tackling the gender gap in particular. Our particular Ambassador program is working well, the individuals involved are accessible, knowledgeable, and supportive. Additionally, I've intervened on my students' behalves and generated a message for another user when necessary, asked for tolerance, explained learning circumstances. I always get positive responses from users who'd challenged incompetent newbie contributors.
As the real-time classroom leader or navigator, Wikipedia is fun because it challenges learning paradigms, and must be engaging and "student-centered" at the same time as we all discover together; for this reason, I 'brand' the class as a workshop. A structure such as this, however, leads to productivity and grading ambiguity- a greater and more complex issue than I want to elaborate here. But for instance, I am "grading" contributions and the mid-terms are group collaboration projects- there is some academic frontier here.
The class' students are a mix, both in gender and ethnicity, and representative of the U.S. today. Some students first language is not English. I loosely utilize Wikipedia's Educator materials. We are reading, "Good Faith Collaboration..." as a basis for historical and societal background about how Wikipedia has evolved, and we augment our understanding with outside readings, sometimes from the news (WikiLeaks and Anonymous are examples of topics that interest students). We have assigned grammar captains (majors in relevant fields), PhotoShop captains (experience with PS), and an HTML captain (writes code). Student-to-student participation in the workshop is important, yet added to that, students today come to class with mobiles, have Facebook, Twitter, and Google + at the ready. They quickly learn that Wikipedia is social too.
We listened to an interview of Sue G., that Sue had pasted the link in this forum a few weeks back. I sought feedback, especially from females. Only a few students commented, but generally I sensed a generation gap about the significance of low female participation in Wikipedia. The most important message I received from female students is this: Their parents have warned them that the potential for danger lurks on the internet, and that open disclosure of information on their identities, or even becoming a viewable entity, such as a user, could put them at risk. I cannot emphasize enough, how my students heed the cautionary advice of their elders. Students mention concern that their true identities could become known, they express anxiety about the potential for becoming targets of any kind of ire, including slights that more mature adults have long since learned to live with. Cyber-predation and identity theft come to mind. This gender forum too, is published to the internet and names names... moreover, ones ideas here may be batched with topics that one is disinclined to comment on in public fora.
My students hesitate to voice their views in this forum; though I had wished they would share them, I cannot ask students to do something they worry is not in their best and safest interests. Some students complain that 'gendergap' contains non-pertinent sends, some females agree a female-only forum would feel safer; females are divided on this latter. One Latino male said he quickly got bored with this forum, that people don't realize the world of single mothers is devastated by exigencies far removed from Wikipedia, especially for females of color.
Males (Caucasian) in this class are more likely to make early contributions- then get them dinged or deleted. This seems to be based on preliminary self-confident behavior, but once chastised by Wikipedians for low competence, they quickly become more hesitant to contribute. In contributions by females, grammarian females show high confidence and competence for ongoing contributions. Some females demonstrate surprisingly high levels of self-uncertainty. For some, self-perceived as not certain, passion for topic and zest for engagement may slightly mitigate low contribution probabilities. To generalize for the purposes of this forum, ethnically African American, Latino, and African males "behave" more like females in terms of uncertainty and contribution engagement.
Low social credibility, an outcome produced by new engagers' problematic contributions, seems to be a cocktail of: contributor culture of origin, natural inclination (for scholarly pursuits), social self-measure- predicaments and constraints, gender-based sensitivity, and ability to roll with the punches as a newcomer to knowledge-driven social fora. It should not be surprising that many newcomers to Wikipedia, already in a sea of social media, will opt for that Tweet about someone's idea, rather than dig in, and do the dry and rigorous research required to construct a survivable statement with references and links in Wikipedia. Young knowledge pursuers want to own something and have safe places to do it.
Overall, females want non-gendered usernames, they worry true identity data "escapes" and IP data could make them vulnerable to mishaps. While all students want to learn and make meaningful contributions, students see there are problems with the importance of their contributions. Experience with deletions and comments can help students rise to a higher level of contribution, raise the bar on themselves, learn to navigate Wikipedia culture, and grow into a sense of importance in the Wikipedia super- and infrastructural (for lack of better terms) communities.
I encourage all students to see themselves becoming those overseers and caretakers of Wikipedia and its future. Empowerment starts at home (females remind us), then is supported in the classroom (such as by a caring mentor). Just
as I had professors and others whose ideas have an enduring impact on my
intellectual and societal present, one tries, through the scholarly
mission, to inspire this new generation of eager, good-hearted,
well-intentioned, capable of excellence, set of newcomers. I don't have revolutionary ideas (yet). But please, hang in there good people!
KSR
Hi all, this is my first message here, so let me introduce myself. My name
is Juliana, I'm a professor of Ancient History at the Federal University of
Rio de Janeiro State, in Brazil, and here we're also starting our own
version of the GEP program, Wikimedia Brasil
Educação<http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:WBE>.
This is the first GEP program wholly working with a language and a WP other
than English, and the WP:PT still has a lot to improve in terms of quality -
so we have plenty of space to work on.
I'd like to comment on these problems that are happening in India, because
we have also been facing issues of plagiarism, poor editing and conflicts,
although on a lesser scale. The class has 30 students, and there is
currently one article online that we worked
on<http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaniza%C3%A7%C3%A3o>,
with all the rest of their work on sandboxes until the third week of
November. One wikipedian has spotted plagiarism on an early draft of that
article (it was stored in my sandbox, assembling the different parts the
groups had written), and I pointed that out in the following class,
explaining the problem and its consequences. I urged the students to spot
the places of the article where the copy&paste happened and fix it
themselves, without pointing out who made what mistake. The same will happen
with the rest of the articles until the end of the course, witht help from
online ambassadors and other experienced editors that have been occasionally
mentoring the students.
I'm lucky enough to have a campus ambassador who's a very experienced
editor, having written some featured articles
himself<http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usu%C3%A1rio:OTAVIO1981>(hes
actually not a student). I cannot stress more the advantages of
working
with an ambassador who's also an experienced wikipedian - if they're not
yet, then it's crucial tha the ambassador edits on their own as much as they
can. Also, I happen to have been a wikipedian even before becoming a
professor, so I know very well the importance of writing with the WP rules
constantly in mind. Actually, almost half the course has been dedicated to
working on those skills with the students, rather than just teaching them
the specific contents of Roman history and culture (I can do that because
this is one of the elective courses on the curriculum).
It's true that many students don't understand exactly why plagiarism is bad,
and how to cite correctly. They have serious handicaps on researching and
writing skills, and what I've been noticing with the WP experience in class
is that it reveals these problems in a very clear way, which a regular
course doesn't. This also requires shifting paradigms of behavior (oh my,
how academic this sounds...) both in students AND in professors. I'm still
figuring out how to deal with this new situation. One challenge in
particular is how to have the students working on their assignments when not
in class. My next classes will be regular lectures, away from the computer,
because I don't want them to create an automatic association between editing
and the lab/class hours. In our case this is even more critical, because
History students are not used with working on computer labs, so the
environment is very distracting for them.
And on specific gender issues: my trick was not to make them conscious of
any of this (also because here in Brazil we don't focus as much on a gender
gap agenda, for better or for worse...). Still, my most engaged student is a
woman, and she's considering acting as a campus ambassador when this course
ends. : )
If anyone is interested on discussing more strategies to overcome the
problems with students, and on the GEP program as a whole, please do contact
me <http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usu%C3%A1rio:Domusaurea>, over email or
through my talk page.
Juliana.
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 12:50:31 -0700
> From: LiAnna Davis <ldavis(a)wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Gendergap] Supporting Campus Ambassador programs [Fwd:
> Issue of Copy-Pasting]
> To: Increasing female participation in Wikimedia projects
> <gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Message-ID:
> <CAEjBVQYGA2tZeW-+L-d2C-bLZxP2Bakut__97GNoZMcL8=ebkA(a)mail.gmail.com
> >
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Lennart's exactly correct: The primary goal of our program is to improve
> the
> content of Wikipedia by reaching out to academia. We're of course very
> excited if a student becomes a Wikipedian (and many have), but that's not
> our primary goal.
>
> And yes, our students do get slapped on the hand for failing to follow
> Wikipedia policies to the letter--just like all other new contributors do.
> One key difference, though, is our students have access to Campus and
> Online
> Ambassadors, who are able to encourage them to fix any problems -- they are
> a mentoring role to the new editors who provide that crucial welcoming
> voice
> from the community. Copyright, notability, and other issues are covered
> during in-class and out-of-class Wikipedia labs with students, and they're
> given reference materials about the policies, but not all students listen
> the first time around -- that's just part of working with people. :)
>
> In terms of mentoring female Campus and Online Ambassadors -- please do!
> And
> feel free to encourage any female students as well. Links to our three
> programs operating right now:
> http://enwp.org/WP:USEDU
> http://enwp.org/WP:CANADAEDU
> http://enwp.org/WP:INDIAEDU
>
> LiAnna
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 7:37 AM, Lennart Guldbrandsson <
> l_guldbrandsson(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Sarah's conclusions are in sync with what I've heard from the team at
> the
> > Wikimedia Foundation. But, and that's a crucial point, the goal with the
> > collaborations with the universites is not to make everyone a Wikipedian.
> I
> > know, that may be strange or counter-intuitive. It certainly was for me.
> > Instead, the goal is to increase the quality of those articles that they
> > university courses are working on, and if some of those who edited during
> > the course stays on as Wikipedians, that's terrific, but it cannot be the
> > goal. I am sure that Frank Schulenburg, Rod Dunican, LiAnna Davis or the
> > other people in the (now) Global Education team can provide more insight
> > into their original thinking. Or Pete Forsythe, for that matter, who I
> know
> > is on this list.
> >
> > I know that is but one of the aspects of Sarah's email, but it's the one
> > aspect I know something about :-)
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> > Lennart
> >
> > Lennart Guldbrandsson,
> > Wikimedia Sverige http://wikimedia.se
> > Tfn: 031 - 12 50 48 Mobil: 070 - 207 80 05 Epost:
> > l_guldbrandsson(a)hotmail.com Anv?ndarsida:
> > http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anv%C3%A4ndare:Hannibal Blogg:
> > http://mrchapel.wordpress.com/
> >
> > ------------------------------
> > Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 10:30:10 -0400
> > From: sarah.stierch(a)gmail.com
> > To: fredbaud(a)fairpoint.net; gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > Subject: Re: [Gendergap] Supporting Campus Ambassador programs [Fwd:
> Issue
> > of Copy-Pasting]
> >
> >
> > I took some time last week and actually went through the "female" editors
> > (many of the students openly identify their real names and/or genders)
> > participating in class programs.
> >
> > 1) Most don't edit Wikipedia after the class is over - and this goes
> beyond
> > gender. I determined this by studying their user contributions and also
> > using a tool to examine contributions and gender for specific
> WikiProjects
> > (specifically WP:Public art which developed as a program with students
> > before the Campus Ambassador program existed)
> > 2) A nice amount of them generally get slaps on the hand for their lack
> of
> > understanding on "How Wikipedia Works"
> >
> > I'm not sure if this means that something in the system is broken (i.e.
> > we're not educating students and professors on how Wikipedia works write,
> > we're not providing ongoing outreach - which seems to be a problem in a
> lot
> > of areas of WP outreach...), that the students genuinely have no interest
> > (and that's fine, they are "forced" to do it, after all), or what..
> >
> > Some of these problems involve image deletion (due to lack of
> understanding
> > on how fair use/copyright works in Wikipedia), article deletion, blocking
> of
> > accounts, or just plain calling people out on their talk pages. I didn't
> > gather all this information in a pile - I've looked at upwards of a
> thousand
> > female editors accounts over the past two weeks - but, it's there, if you
> > dig around a bit.
> >
> > -Sarah
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 10:13 AM, Fred Bauder <fredbaud(a)fairpoint.net
> >wrote:
> >
> > Help is needed.
> >
> > Fred
> >
> > --------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
> > Subject: Issue of Copy-Pasting
> > From: "Hisham" <hisham(a)wikimedia.org>
> > Date: Fri, October 7, 2011 7:46 am
> > To: "Wikipedia Ambassadors India"
> > <wikipedia-ambassadors-india(a)googlegroups.com>
> > wikipedia-online-ambassadors(a)googlegroups.com
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Hi Team
> >
> > This problem is continuing and is fast approaching disaster proportions.
> > Please see these comments
> >
> > <
> >
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:India_Education_Program#Queries…
> > >
> > and
> > <
> >
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Ambassadors#Concerns_over_impac…
> > >
> >
> > Please urgently do the following
> >
> > a) Constantly repeat to every student that copy-pasting is not acceptable
> > b) Monitor the work of your students - and make sure they edit in their
> > sandboxes before they go live (and only go live after you ok it.)
> > c) Please let's have the Campus & Online Ambassadors working closely with
> > each other to do point (b) and to track, monitor and correct the work of
> > your respective students.
> >
> > In the next few days and weeks, the problem is going to explode unless we
> > control it because many students' deadlines are approaching.
> >
> > Please treat this matter with the highest urgency. The very future of
> > our program is at stake.
> >
> > Many thanks.
> >
> > hisham
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Gendergap mailing list
> > Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > GLAMWIKI Partnership Ambassador for Wikimedia <http://www.glamwiki.org>
> > Wikipedian-in-Residence, Archives of American Art<
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User%3aSarahStierch>
> > and
> > Sarah Stierch Consulting
> > *Historical, cultural & artistic research & advising.*
> > ------------------------------------------------------
> > http://www.sarahstierch.com/
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________ Gendergap mailing list
> > Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Gendergap mailing list
> > Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> LiAnna Davis
> Global Education Program Communications Manager
> Wikimedia Foundation
> http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_Education_Program
> (415) 839-6885 x6649
> ldavis(a)wikimedia.org
>
Hi, I'm writing with regard to the topics raised in the email trail below.
Any thoughts or comments on the topics raised would be great.
Thanks in advance, and regards,
Leilah
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: leilah ozaibi <email.leilah(a)gmail.com>
Date: 7 October 2011 16:47
Subject: Re: [Ticket#2011100710013059] Pictorial Depictions
To: Wikimedia Commons Information Team <info-commons(a)wikimedia.org>
OK! Thanks! Presumably there is no other way for me.
Have a good weekend.
Leilah
On 7 October 2011 16:43, Wikimedia Commons Information Team <
info-commons(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Dear Leilah Ozaibi,
>
> I simply handle releases for images and issues using Commons and am not an
> employee. Your emails are only seen by myself and it would be best to post
> ideas
> to the mailing list:
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
>
> Yours sincerely,
> Aaron Adrignola
>
> --
> Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org
> ---
> Disclaimer: all mail to this address is answered by volunteers, and
> responses are
> not to be considered an official statement of the Wikimedia Foundation. For
> official correspondence, please contact the Wikimedia Foundation by
> certified mail
> at the address listed on http://www.wikimediafoundation.org
>
>
Help is needed.
Fred
--------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Issue of Copy-Pasting
From: "Hisham" <hisham(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Fri, October 7, 2011 7:46 am
To: "Wikipedia Ambassadors India"
<wikipedia-ambassadors-india(a)googlegroups.com>
wikipedia-online-ambassadors(a)googlegroups.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Team
This problem is continuing and is fast approaching disaster proportions.
Please see these comments
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:India_Education_Program#Queries…>
and
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Ambassadors#Concerns_over_impac…>
Please urgently do the following
a) Constantly repeat to every student that copy-pasting is not acceptable
b) Monitor the work of your students - and make sure they edit in their
sandboxes before they go live (and only go live after you ok it.)
c) Please let's have the Campus & Online Ambassadors working closely with
each other to do point (b) and to track, monitor and correct the work of
your respective students.
In the next few days and weeks, the problem is going to explode unless we
control it because many students' deadlines are approaching.
Please treat this matter with the highest urgency. The very future of
our program is at stake.
Many thanks.
hisham
> Yes, and a consistent approach would then evolve - ?
If we have a productive discussion here and on policy pages it would
become a guideline. Lots of work required and some wisdom. We want
information that is universally useful and accessible on a global basis.
Fred
>
> On 7 October 2011 21:00, Fred Bauder <fredbaud(a)fairpoint.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> You say, "Would it not be more consistent to use a more balanced and
cohesive aesthetic style across the whole subject of human
reproduction and sexuality?"
>>
>> Yes, and we do discuss that here. One train of thought is to use
images of people as they are rather than idealized images.
>>
>> Fred
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Gendergap mailing list
>> Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
>>
>
I think it just shows another aspect of Wikimedia that I think needs a
better examination - banning and blocks and activities of those members on
other projects. Extended blockings (1 year) and bannings mean that a user
can't participate on that one project - but they are welcome to participate
in other projects. I know many folks say "Oh, assume good faith - perhaps
they'll come back after their block a better, happier, healthier
contributor!" or "They might be messed up online but they're not offline,"
(sorry Chris!) but this has not quite been what I have seen. I've seen
members banned or blocked on en.WP go to have unhealthy and unstable
relationships with the community on other projects, continue to express rage
and even at times sociopathic behavior to WMF and editors outside of
projects, and so forth.
I've had an en.WP user stalk and verbally attack me off of Wikipedia
(including sexual harassment on social networking sites) to the point where
I am seriously afraid that if I see this user show up at WIkimania next year
or a regional event (he's regional to where I live) I won't know if I'll be
able to stay. This user currently contributes to other projects that I am
active on and makes a point to comment only on statements I say (in certain
arenas), leave comments on my talk page, and continue to try to "get my
attention" in other manners, including on IRC - where the user talks to
people I consider friends about me to them in order to convince them that
I'm not an adequate contributor. As someone who survived an extremely
abusive relationship, the last thing I want to do is worry about my personal
safety and the safety of others when attending events, editing or
contributing, or just "hanging out" online. I didn't know how to deal with
it when it happened, and I still don't. It's an unsettling experience.
And while the survey I am preparing to wrap up confirms what the editor
survey said - most (female) users don't have problems with users escalate,
just under half have. Assuming good faith isn't always possible when anger
management, mental instability and off wiki or offline experiences just
solidify that some of these people do have problems. And while many users
often sit in the background and let the aggressive users like I've outlined
above keep on keepin' on - they continue to suffer silently, and those who
speak out actively have to suffer with even stronger and more prominent
attacks.
Sorry to get so emotional about it, it's just...really frustrating for me..
-Sarah Stierch
On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 12:03 PM, Sydney Poore <sydney.poore(a)gmail.com>wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 11:37 AM, Risker <risker.wp(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I am saying that you are questioning the decision of an independent body
>> to select a person for membership in the same way that he questioned the WMF
>> for selecting a person he did not consider appropriate. In short, he sought
>> a non-project sanction for on-project activities/concerns. I do not see a
>> difference between that behaviour, and members of this list seeking a
>> non-project sanction (i.e., removing someone from a chapter Board of
>> Directors) for on-project activities/concerns, particularly when the
>> on-project concern was....well, doing exactly what seems to be proposed
>> here.I agree that we need to be sensitive in general about how we discuss
>> these type of issues on a public mailing list. And in this case since one
>> party to the case is an active participate to this mailing list, we need to
>> take extra caution that we are not only hearing one side of the story.
>>
>
> That said, I don't think that it is actually a parallel comparison. We
> don't want users escalating disputes by calling employers because it can
> have loads of negative repercussions for Wikipedia as well as the person who
> is reported. But I see no reason that users shouldn't take into
> consideration whether they support having someone who has been banned on one
> WMF project in a position of trust in a WMF related organization or another
> wiki. ArbCom does the same type of thing when it vets users for positions of
> trust such as checkuser. People take into account an users past history when
> they vote for steward or WMF Board members. So, I don't have a problem with
> someone raising a concern about it in this situation.
>
> Sydney Poore
> User:FloNight
>
>>
>> Wikimedia chapters are not beholden to one specific project. There are
>> hundreds of people banned or blocked on one WMF project who are active,
>> respected members of other projects; in fact, even on English Wikipedia,
>> appropriate and valued work in another WMF project or area is usually
>> considered a mitigating factor when a user requests review of a sanction.
>>
>> (For the record, I am a member of the Arbitration Committee that voted to
>> ban the user in question, and did support a ban.)
>>
>> Risker/Anne
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 7 October 2011 11:22, Sandra <sandratordonez(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I dont understand what ur trying to express. Can u possibly clarify.
>>>
>>> Are you saying that this person should be allowed to represent the
>>> community in an official capacity even though he has been recently banned
>>> for inappropriate behavior and breaking community guidelines?
>>>
>>> I just want to make sure that im understanding your point of view
>>> correctly.
>>>
>>> On Oct 7, 2011, at 10:50 AM, Risker <risker.wp(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I would recommend considerable caution in discussing this issue on this
>>> mailing list. One of the key "harassment" issues was that the now-banned
>>> user attempted to contact the WMF about another user whom he believed to
>>> beemployed by the WMF under some form of grant or contract. It raises an
>>> interesting question that some here would think it appropriate to try to
>>> affect that person's position in a Wikimedia chapter because of the English
>>> Wikipedia ban; it is parallel to the situation for which the user was banned
>>> in the first place.
>>>
>>> At least one other party under conditional sanctions in the same case is
>>> an active and respected member of this mailing list, and I can respect that
>>> it would be difficult for that individual to have this matter dissected
>>> here. Please proceed with caution.
>>>
>>>
>>> Risker/Anne
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7 October 2011 09:55, Sandra ordonez < <sandratordonez(a)gmail.com>
>>> sandratordonez(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Currently banned and I think it wasn't that long ago.
>>>>
>>>> lets wait till aude responds to see if there is a way this list can
>>>> help.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Michael J. Lowrey <<orangemike(a)gmail.com>
>>>> orangemike(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 6:49 AM, Sandra ordonez <<sandratordonez(a)gmail.com>
>>>>> sandratordonez(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> > Essentially, that someone has gotten a leadership position in the
>>>>> D.C.
>>>>> > chapter who has been banned from editing Wikipedia for year for
>>>>> things like
>>>>> > harassing people, disruptive behavior, and editing problems like
>>>>> copyright
>>>>> > violations.
>>>>>
>>>>> Banned in the past, and done their time; or currently banned? I've
>>>>> worked with ex-cons in the past.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Michael J. "Orange Mike" Lowrey
>>>>>
>>>>> "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food
>>>>> and clothes."
>>>>> -- Desiderius Erasmus
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Gendergap mailing list
>>>>> <Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org>Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>>>> <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap>
>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> *Sandra Ordonez*
>>>> *Web Astronaut*
>>>> (503)866-2697
>>>> @Collaboracion
>>>>
>>>> "Helping you rock out in the virtual, collaborative world."
>>>>
>>>> * <http://www.collaborativenation.com>www.collaborativenation.com*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Gendergap mailing list
>>>> <Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org>Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>>> <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap>
>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Gendergap mailing list
>>> Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Gendergap mailing list
>>> Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org
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--
GLAMWIKI Partnership Ambassador for Wikimedia <http://www.glamwiki.org>
Wikipedian-in-Residence, Archives of American
Art<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch>
and
Sarah Stierch Consulting
*Historical, cultural & artistic research & advising.*
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.sarahstierch.com/
So this morning I happened to start off by clicking a link on the talk page
of Maggie Dennis that involved concerns about one of the project's newer
education wikiprojects, and ultimately wound up on the page featuring the
Campus Ambassadors for the India Education Program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:India_Education_Program/Campus_Ambas…
Notice anything interesting there? I was immediately taken by the high
proportion of women who have signed up to become Campus Ambassadors for this
program. Many are very new to the Wikipedia projects, so they have the
double challenge of familiarizing themselves with the project as a whole,
and also supporting new editors.
It strikes me that this is precisely the demographic that could use some
assistance and support from those of us with more experience; they're
obviously interested and eager to participate, but we've seen so many times
that it takes more than enthusiasm and knowledge to succeed. Mentoring from
experienced women may help them to flourish in our environment. Anyone up
for doing so?
Risker/Anne
"Wikipedystka", in Polish, describes a female Wikipedian (as opposed
to the male "wikipedysta"). As of today, Polish female Wikipedians are
no longer called "wikipedysta" if they choose to publicly identify
their gender as female.
Here are a few examples:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedystka:Tanja5http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedystka:Joanna_Ko%C5%9Bmiderhttp://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedystka:AldraW
This is also visible in other places, e.g. recent changes on Polish Wikipedia.
This change is a result of the roll-out of a new version of our
software. Other languages, like German, which also have
gender-specific terms to describe users, will be upgraded in the
coming days.
It's a small thing, but hopefully it'll make gender diversity (and
lack thereof) a bit more visible, at least in languages which are more
expressive than English. ;-)
Cheers,
Erik
--
Erik Möller
VP of Engineering and Product Development, Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate