Advocating for gender equity on Wikipedia: writing an article for a woman from every country in the world
Lucy Moore, Postgraduate Researcher (PhD), Department of Archaeology
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1083-3375
Email: lucy.moore@york.ac.uk
Summary
Lucy Moore challenged herself to improve the representation of the lives and achievements of women on Wikipedia by contributing an article for a woman from every country in the world. Wikipedia and other Wikimedia platforms are important tools for digital activism and outreach, making research and knowledge more discoverable and accessible whilst enabling reuse through open licensing. The goal of this project is to inspire more people, especially women, to edit Wikipedia as part of their feminist activism, raise awareness of online gender inequities and offer ways in which they can be addressed.
Case Study
Research Context
Wikipedia, one of the world's most visited websites, strives to encompass "the sum of all human knowledge." Despite its vast reach, the platform has significant gaps and biases, particularly in gender representation. Women are notably underrepresented, with biographies of women comprising less than 20% of all biographical articles. To address this disparity, Lucy Moore integrated open practices into their activist-academic efforts, focusing on increasing the visibility of women (particularly those in archaeology and numismatics, and also for women of colour) by writing comprehensive Wikipedia articles on them.
Implementation of Open Practices
To promote equitable representation, Lucy embarked on a project to write a Wikipedia article for a notable woman from every country worldwide, culminating in March 2024 with a total of 532 articles. This initiative aligns with the principles of open research by making information freely accessible and enhancing the discoverability of scholarly work, particularly for scholars experiencing (historic) marginalizations. She also uses Wikimedia as a tool to promote her PhD research on ninth-century coinage. Utilising Wikipedia as a platform allowed Lucy to leverage its open licensing policies, facilitating the dissemination and reuse of content.
Benefits Realised
The project's impact was multifaceted, benefiting both the Wikipedia community and a broader audience. Media coverage from prominent global news outlets, including CBC, CNN, and BBC World Service, highlighted the feminist goals of the initiative and brought significant attention to the issue of gender inequity online. This visibility inspired more Wikipedia editing activity, particularly among women, fostering a more inclusive editing community.
The increased presence of women’s biographies on Wikipedia addressed immediate representational gaps and made scholarly work related to these women more discoverable. By integrating academic research into Wikipedia articles, the project demonstrated the potential of open practices to enhance public engagement with scholarly content.
Lessons Learned
Several key lessons emerged from this initiative. Building a network of like-minded contributors is crucial for sustaining quality and addressing systemic biases. Second, media coverage and public engagement are vital for amplifying the impact of open research projects. Lastly, the project reaffirmed the value of open platforms like Wikipedia in disseminating scholarly work and promoting equity. This was recognised by the recent Open Research Award given to Lucy.
In conclusion, this case study illustrates how open practices can be effectively utilised to address representation gaps on widely accessed platforms like Wikipedia. By fostering collaboration, leveraging open licences, and engaging with the public, researchers can significantly enhance the visibility and impact of their work, contributing to a more equitable distribution of knowledge.
Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Lajmmoore/Round_the_World_Challenge
Licensing information
Except where otherwise noted copyright in this work belongs to the author(s), licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence 