Gendergap December 2011

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49 participants
44 discussions

I'm not sure which is more depressing
by Michael J. Lowrey 22 Dec '11

22 Dec '11

This discussion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Becritical#Please_don.27t_encourage_…. or this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales#File:Wikipedia_Change_Th… -- 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

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Announcing Community Fellow Sarah Stierch
by Siko Bouterse 21 Dec '11

21 Dec '11

Hi everyone, It is my pleasure to announce Sarah as our first Community Fellow for 2012, and our first fellowship specifically focused on the gender gap. I'm sure she'll be keeping this list updated on her work, but meanwhile you can read the full announcement on the Wikimedia blog: http://blog.wikimedia.org/2011/12/20/announcing-community-fellow-sarah-stie… Congratulations, Sarah, it's great to have you onboard!<gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org> -- Siko Bouterse Head of Community Fellowships Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. sbouterse(a)wikimedia.org

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A nice mix - our edit-a-thon sure shook up the gender gap!
by Sarah Stierch 20 Dec '11

20 Dec '11

Hi folks, I'm going to be a little selfish here, so pardon me. But, yesterday I coordinated a "fine art" themed edit-a-thon at our local downtown library, here in Washington, DC, followed by a meet-up at a local pub. I'm proud to say we had 13 people at the edit-a-thon, and six were women. The meetup? We had 16 people and 9 were women!! These numbers might seem small compared to larger events, but, to have an event like this, and have such a healthy mix, made me so happy. User:Aude, the President of Wikimedia DC joked "I remember when it'd be just me and Mindspillage, as the only women," and we gushed about having such a healthy group of "all genders" at the event. I noticed, when saying goodbye to people, that I got a bit emotional - not only did we have a gender-mixed Wiki-event, but, we also actually wrote new articles and expanded articles - and anyone who attends an edit-a-thon knows - it's often chaos and just socializing, not actual editing. You can see our outcomes here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/DC_26/To-do_list#OUTCOMES Which includes new articles or expanded articles about seven women artists!!! Obviously, I'm on a bit of a high from this, as I love outreach and coordinating things like this; I do believe the power of invitation helped with the success of this event. I don't use bots for invitations, and I do my best to individually reach out to people "I hope you'll be there." I genuinely do believe that invitation is one of the strongest keys in making sure that events, participation, and programs succeed in regards to closing the gender gap. Thanks for letting me gush =) One event, for me, leads to one more woman feeling inspired to continue participating. It also shows that offline events make for such a rewarding experience - we get to come together, put our differences aside, and work together for the common cause of providing free knowledge to the world. One woman who came had never written a new article - and this was her first time - and she really was proud. That just made me so happy. I also got to meet Carol Moore, which was rather epic, I must say. :) -Sarah -- Sarah Stierch Consulting -- Historical, cultural, new media & artistic research & advising. http://www.sarahstierch.com

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International perspectives on women in the Wikimedia Foundation movement
by Laura Hale 19 Dec '11

19 Dec '11

Hi, As part of our work with the WikiWomenCamp, we're trying to develop a list of different perspectives regarding the state of the gender gap for Wikimedia chapters by country or region. This can be found at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiWomenCamp/FAQ#Perspectives We'd really be happy if people could add sections about the movement in terms of women from their own countries. :) Sincerely, Laura Hale

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Invitation: WikiWomenCamp, May 2012 in Argentina
by Laura Hale 19 Dec '11

19 Dec '11

WikiWomenCamp came out of conversations between women around the world who are involved with Wikimedia's Chapters and GLAM efforts. Soon, other women involved with other Wikimedia Foundation projects and non-WMF wikis were involved as we started planning the conference. We wanted an opportunity for women (by gender or sex) to get together, learn from each other's experience, network with other women who can assist us in meeting our goals, feel like we are part of the Wiki Ohana, discuss issues related to being women involved in the wider wiki community, and share our passions with similar, like minded women. Unlike a conventional conference, where everything's pre-planned and structured, WikiWomenCamp is a gathering where we decide for ourselves what we're going to get out of it by offering sessions each morning on whatever we want (and of course ad hoc sessions can form at any time). There's no agenda until we make it up! Now, that might sound a bit chaotic if you're never been to this type of gathering, but be prepared to be surprised at how much people can learn and create when they collaborate spontaneously. With an emergent agenda, it can be hard to describe specifically what you will get from participating in WikiWomenCamp. In large part, that is up to you to be responsible for. At similar events, participants often say they have gained a greater sense of wiki community, broader sense of wiki way and wiki tools, or more excitement about our future together as well as inspiration and discovery. At WikiWomenCamp, all women involved with the wiki community is welcome! You do not need be an expert at editing wikis, in running chapters or work for a wiki related organization. Collaboration thrives on diversity. All you need to bring is an open mind, and a willingness to participate, whether by teaching, taking an active role in discussions, helping people to connect to those who can assist them, or sharing your own . And, don't forget, WikiWomenCamp is what we make it, so let's make it enlightening, productive and fun. The conference will be on 23, 24, 25 May 2012 in Buenos Aires. Details can be found at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiWomenCamp Sincerely, Laura Hale

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Fwd: [Wiki Loves Monuments] Fwd: [cultural-partners] Wiki Loves Monuments... 2012!
by Sarah Stierch 19 Dec '11

19 Dec '11

Hi everyone - this is the announcement for WIki Loves Monuments. The US will be participating (in some capacity) for the 2012 event, and we're of course looking for participants around the world. And since this is gender gap - perhaps you know some cool women's groups, or yourself - who would like to step up and help lead a group or your country/state/chapter into the WLM event. See below! It's an awesome experience - I participated (Despite living in the US) in the Belgian WLM, and it was really awesome. -Sarah -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Wiki Loves Monuments] Fwd: [cultural-partners] Wiki Loves Monuments... 2012! Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:56:12 +0100 From: Maarten Dammers <maarten(a)mdammers.nl> Reply-To: Wiki Loves Monuments Photograph Competition <wikilovesmonuments(a)lists.wikimedia.org> To: Wiki Loves Monuments Photograph Competition <wikilovesmonuments(a)lists.wikimedia.org> FYI, we send out the following email to several lists. Please spread the word :-) --------------- Hello everyone, As you may have heard, a little while ago some organizers of Wiki Loves Monuments 2011 came together in a rainy and cold Amsterdam to evaluate the 2011 edition, and kick off documentation for 2012. We would like to share some of the results of our meeting with you. The first and most important information is: * There is going to be a Wiki Loves Monuments in 2012 -- and if there is interest, we are going global! We would like to get a feeling of in how many countries there would be people potentially interested in organizing a Wiki Loves Monuments nationally; but firstly, let us start with the basics. Wiki Loves Monuments is a photo contest organized in 2010 and 2011 in, respectively, the Netherlands and in Europe. The contest asks the general audience to upload pictures of monumental/historical sites and buildings during September. It has a federal structure and is organised seperately in every participating country by the local people who know how things work in their area; best photos from all countries are nominated for an international contest. In 2011 this contest was very successful, with more than 165.000 photos of monuments in 18 participating countries submitted in total. This was possible thanks to the hard work of hundreds of volunteers in those countries who helped organise Wiki Loves Monuments in one way or another. The winning pictures have been published on <http://www.wikilovesmonuments.eu> and on Wikimedia Commons: <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2011_winners>. Besides the wonderful direct impact on the overall quality and coverage of heritage and culture topics, Wiki Loves Monuments is a fantastic opportunity to reach some of our important goals: we had a participation of over 4.000 new users who created the first ever community-driven contribution peak on Wikimedia Commons (<_http://stats.wikimedia.org/reportcard/#new_editors_per_month_>); we have also helped in establishing cooperation between Wikimedia groups & chapters and some of their local cultural institutions and organisations in several countries. Would you be interested in organizing a Wiki Loves Monuments in 2012 in your country? Would you like to know more? Find all the details at <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2012>. We have put together some information there for you -- and much more will follow soon. We would also like you to join our public mailing list where everyone is welcome to ask any questions about the details on how to organise a Wiki Loves Monuments in your country. This is a place where many organizers of 2011 are already on and we will use that as our main channel for communications and information dispersion in 2012. Be bold and sign up for the list at <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikilovesmonuments>. So, please speak up if you're interested! Best regards, Lodewijk, Maarten & Tomasz (on behalf of so many others)

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Techies You Decide! You're either a feminist or a misogynist - by Trevor Owens
by Sarah Stierch 19 Dec '11

19 Dec '11

Trevor Owens, a colleague of mine in the DC GLAM world has written a nice and honest blog about open source and feminism. It talks about the fear women have of representing themselves or writing like "themselves" online, the experiences of Skud her ideas about harassment, and Trevor stating why he is a feminist. http://www.trevorowens.org/2011/12/techies-you-decide-you’re-either-a-femin… Nice to see a man in tech express himself like this - it's a rare thing to see, especially in the tech field. Sarah -- Sarah Stierch Consulting -- Historical, cultural, new media & artistic research & advising. http://www.sarahstierch.com

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"Gender Namespaces" bug
by Sarah Stierch 18 Dec '11

18 Dec '11

http://ultimategerardm.blogspot.com/2011/12/addressing-women-properly.html Gerard reports that the bug "is done." -Sarah [[User:SarahStierch]] en.wp

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Cause and effect research - gender and diversity in Wikipedia
by Karen Sue Rolph 18 Dec '11

18 Dec '11

Dear Colleagues, I have just completed (teaching) a (California - Bay Area) college Wikipedia 'workshop' class, intended to: 1) encourage women and more culturally diverse communities to engage with Wikipedia, and 2) to help us all better understand participation disparity among females and more culturally diverse groups. Data are qualitative and quantitative, taken from direct feedback and participation. I will also make use of formal student evaluations. While students faced challenges in deletions and process, I believe they came away wiser, and most of us agree overseeing Wikipedians accomplish the goal aimed at high quality contributing. We all gradually learn how that is defined, it is iterative, and holds promise. The Ambassador Program, generally, works well too. I welcome correspondence on relevant topics, Karen Sue Rolph, PhD

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Research into causes of the gender gap?
by Johannes Rohr 18 Dec '11

18 Dec '11

Dear all, I recently joined this list as I am one of the persons in charge of the community-oriented goals which Wikimedia Deutschland has set for itself for the coming year, one of which is to increase female participation in Wikimedia activities & projects by 50% until the end of 2012, I am well aware that this is a very ambitious target, and I feel that in order to maximise the chances of meeting it, we will have to be as clear as we can about what are the main deterrents, preventing Wikimedia from developing the same way as the rest of the Internet in terms of narrowing the Gender gap. What is it that makes Wikipedia so different, that the seemingly natural disappearance of the gender gap which we have seen in the Blogosphere and in social media, seems to completely pass by the Wikiverse? I have seen a number of quantitative studies, which unambiguously confirm the existence of the gender gap as such, but I have seen very little on what causes it to be so persistent in the Wikiverse. There is a number of commonly proposed explanations such as the discussion culture and the poor usability. However I have at least not come across any studies which have tested their veracity. If anything of that kind exists, I would be extremely happy for a pointer. I would also be extremely curious whether any attempts have been undertaken to weight the importance of each individual cause. Is there any particular factors which can be clearly identified as the one or two main showstoppers, which should thus be treated as the top priorities or is there a whole array of causes which have more or less equal weight? Looking forward to any feedback, Johannes -- Johannes Rohr Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. Eisenacher Straße 2 10777 Berlin Tel.: +49 30 219158260 http://wikimedia.de Helfen Sie mit, dass WIKIPEDIA von der UNESCO als erstes digitales Weltkulturerbe anerkannt wird. Unterzeichnen Sie die Online-Petition: http://wikipedia.de/wke/. Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.

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Gendergap December 2011