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.