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who were active in trying to get women involved with Wikipedia.  Their
efforts were even mentioned on Signpost.  They joined the list, and it
killed off informal, non-Chapter female efforts in the country to
specifically do outreach to women. Oops. :(


Sincerely,
Laura Hale




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<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 5:31 AM, Johanne=
s Rohr <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:johannes.rohr at wikimedia.de">=
johannes.rohr at wikimedia.de</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gm=
ail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-le=
ft:1ex">
Dear all,<br><br>
I have seen a number of quantitative studies, which unambiguously<br>
confirm the existence of the gender gap as such, but I have seen very<br>
little on what causes it to be so persistent in the Wikiverse. There<br>
is a number of commonly proposed explanations such as the discussion<br>
culture and the poor usability. However I have at least not come<br>
across any studies which have tested their veracity. If anything of<br>
that kind exists, I would be extremely happy for a pointer. I would<br>
also be extremely curious whether any attempts have been undertaken to<br>
weight the importance of each individual cause. Is there any<br>
particular factors which can be clearly identified as the one or two<br>
main showstoppers, which should thus be treated as the top priorities<br>
or is there a whole array of causes which have more or less equal<br>
weight?<br><br></blockquote></div><div><br></div><div><a href=3D"http://met=
a.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mind_the_Gap">http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mind_the_=
Gap</a> and=A0<a href=3D"http://ozziesport.com/2011/07/why-dont-people-edit=
-wikipedia-small-survey-results-provide-some-insights/">Why people don&#39;=
t edit Wikipedia</a>=A0are two small studies I&#39;ve done related to this.=
 =A0Both appear unique from some of the research being done. =A0</div>
<div><br></div><div>Copying and pasting the important conclusions from Mind=
 the Day:</div><div><br></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=
=3D"font-size:13px;line-height:19px;font-family:sans-serif">While the data =
is insufficient to reach the conclusion that Wikipedia attracts females who=
 code their language usage as male in all circumstances on-wiki and off-wik=
i, we have shown that females use a more male style of writing when writing=
 for Wikipedia. Wikipedia has a smaller percentage of female contributors t=
han other wikis: The problems are not solely caused by Wikipedia&#39;s cont=
ent being an informational style of writing that is more typical of males, =
as shown by the fact that other wikis manage to attract larger proportions =
of female contributors when also using a similar informational style of wri=
ting.</span></div>
<div><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size:13px;line-height:1=
9px;font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-styl=
e-span" style=3D"font-size:13px;line-height:19px;font-family:sans-serif">En=
d quote.</span></div>
<div><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size:13px;line-height:1=
9px;font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-styl=
e-span" style=3D"font-size:13px;line-height:19px;font-family:sans-serif"><s=
pan class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-family:arial;font-size:small;l=
ine-height:normal">Copying and pasting the important conclusions from Why p=
eople don&#39;t edit Wikipedia:</span></span></div>
<div><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size:13px;line-height:1=
9px;font-family:sans-serif"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-=
family:arial;font-size:small;line-height:normal"><br></span></span></div><d=
iv><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"color:rgb(110,112,115);font-fa=
mily:&#39;Helvetica Neue&#39;,Helvetica,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:=
12px;line-height:16px">There are some differences in responses between men =
and women, which appears to support the general conclusion that men and wom=
en have different reasons for (not) contributing to Wikipedia and that gend=
er specific type engagement may be needed. One of the arguments that I=92ve=
 heard is that women would like to contribute to Wikipedia but they just do=
 not have the time because they need to take care of their families. This s=
mall sample appears to suggest this isn=92t the case: Women, much more than=
 men in this sample, just have better things to do. I=92ve talked to a few =
women in this sample about this to try to understand what better things the=
y have to do, because I=92ve heard the argument that women do use this type=
 of technology and some people don=92t understand why, if women do blogging=
 and other online content creation, why they don=92t contribute to Wikipedi=
a. In this particular sample, the women I talked to explained it to me as t=
hey have a set of things they prioritise in what they do. In the case of on=
e non-contributor, they do contribute to another wiki that immediately ties=
 into her interests. Beyond that, she has learned that her contributions ha=
ve value and that value can be realised by getting paid for them by writing=
 for sites like associated content and squidoo. There isn=92t the inherent =
value that can be realised when contributing to Wikipedia, so why should sh=
e spend the time contributing? This appears to be supported because of the =
six who said they have better things to do, only one female also said she d=
idn=92t have enough time to contribute.</span></div>
<div><br></div><div>End quote.</div><div><br></div><div>From an Australian =
perspective based on observation, I can this list has the potential to be a=
 bit of a show stopper. =A0:( =A0We had about three women who were active i=
n trying to get women involved with Wikipedia. =A0Their efforts were even m=
entioned on Signpost. =A0They joined the list, and it killed off informal, =
non-Chapter female efforts in the country to specifically do outreach to wo=
men. Oops. :(</div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Sincerely,</div><div>Laura Hale</div><di=
v><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>-- <br>twitter: pu=
rplepopple<br>blog: <a href=3D"http://ozziesport.com" target=3D"_blank">ozz=
iesport.com</a><br>
<br>

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