Hello, I'm Arnaud, I'm French, I work in France as a technician helping
teachers in using computers for pedagogy. I have conducted several
installations of internal wikis for students, among other tools.
I registered in this list out of an interest for Wikipedia in general. I
read most messages, but I didn't reply before because I was very
cautious trying distinguish what belongs to female participation issues
from issues pertaining to Wikipedia in general.
Well, I will try to make it very very short, although a proper
explanation would probably require several thousand words...
In the new generations we (the teaching community) have observed a sharp
decline in teenager literacy. The students' level in science and
technology remains the same, but the ability to read and write is
becoming appalling.
As those generations are entering the work market, we hear reports from
employers who say that many young adults do have the required skills
technically, but their general attitude and behaviour makes it almost
impossible to work with them in a proper way. It's not exactly a lack of
being "nice", it's more a general and diffuse lack of the social skills
to work in a team.
In a Wikipedia context, that would mean a loss of the ability to :
- communicate with others in a sufficiently considerate manner to
collaborate fruitfully
- restrict oneself to writing what is useful
- appreciate that someone else brings knowledge that you didn't have
- and so on...
So you see illiteracy is not an incapacity to read and write, it is an
incapacity to read and write WELL.
I think direct impoliteness on Wikipedia is not the best example. It is
rather a general feeling that you get, if you are literate, that the
other guy is not able or intent enough to produce a quality text.
For example there are vocabulary issues. Recently I observed a product
review - in English - where a young adult had written "this is the
baddest product in its category", by which he meant that it was the best
product. But experienced adults complained that that shouldn't be a
teenager's forum, and baddest product means worst product in the
professional world.
From what I have read here, a recurring complain comes from persons
with specialized skill (females here but I suspect it would be the same
for male writers) who found it impossible to publish knowledge that was
common sense in their specialized area.
From what I see in education illiteracy is spreading in boys and girls
the same, but the problem is that boys are both illiterate and
assertive, or even VERY assertive when they are hidden behind their
computer monitor in their parents' basements.
To conclude, i am really pessimistic about fighting an ocean of
illiterate teenagers. I have had very good experiences on Wikipedia, on
very specialized historical subjects that only adults care about,
generally. But I wouldn't even try to convince a boy teenager that I
have a degree in what I'm talking about...
And yes I'm a male but i really think that we have a big problem with
the younger males generations. From the scientific point of view they
are ok, but from the literacy point of view they are like dumb and
dumber every year...
Ok sorry I was a bit too long.