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Anyone can edit, not everyone does: Wikipedia and the gender gap

Ford, Heather and Wajcman, Judy (2017) Anyone can edit, not everyone does: Wikipedia and the gender gap. Social Studies of Science, 47 (4). 511 - 527. ISSN 0306-3127

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Identification Number: 10.1177/0306312717692172

Abstract

Feminist STS has long established that science’s provenance as a male domain continues to define what counts as knowledge and expertise. Wikipedia, arguably one of the most powerful sources of information today, was initially lauded as providing the opportunity to rebuild knowledge institutions by providing greater representation of multiple groups. However, less than ten percent of Wikipedia editors are women. At one level, this imbalance in contributions and therefore content is yet another case of the masculine culture of technoscience. This is an important argument and, in this article, we examine the empirical research that highlights these issues. Our main objective, however, is to extend current accounts by demonstrating that Wikipedia’s infrastructure introduces new and less visible sources of gender disparity. In sum, our aim here is to present a consolidated analysis of the gendering of Wikipedia.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/sss
Additional Information: © 2017 The Authors
Divisions: Sociology
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Date Deposited: 20 Dec 2016 11:22
Last Modified: 15 Apr 2024 06:42
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/68675

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