Wikipedia – Gendered Space, Gendered Knowledge

I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess.
–Donna Haraway

Google just about anything these days and Wikipedia’s answer is sure to be high on the list of results.  New technology brings with it new expectations and many of us have grown accustomed to instant access to answers to just about any question we can imagine.  Have you ever have a conversation with someone and been unsure about a date, a name, or the title of a movie?  It’s fun.  You rack your brains and sometimes come up with the right answer or sometimes agree to move on without the information.  Ever had a similar conversation with an iPhone owner?  Less fun.

Part of the attractiveness of the internet and internet search engines and wiki’s is that they feel like they ought to be more democratic.  The reason that Google works is based on the collective wisdom of internet users (though certainly people have found ways of attempting to exploit it).  Wikipedia is similar.  It’s basically an online, evolving encyclopedia.  Anyone can contribute, edit posts, add new information, or even new items currently lacking a post.  The interesting finding, however, is that although anyone can participate, it’s not just anyone that does participate.

Wikipedia has a huge gender gap in contributors to the site.  The results from Wikipedia’s survey of users found that less than 15% of contributors to the site are women.  Less than 15%?!??!  This gap in contribution is compounded by the fact that Wikipedian women, on average, post on fewer topics such that women’s overall contribution to Wikipedia in terms of actual material is less than 10%.  Seen from a different angle, men produce more than 90% of the material on Wikipedia!