Women and Wikipedia

A broad new survey of Wikipedia users found that only 13% of the online encyclopedia’s contributors are women.

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Of the 53,888 respondents who said they contribute to Wikipedia, only 6,814 were women. The male/female ratio is closer among those who read entries but don’t write or edit them: 69% men to 31% women.

The average respondent age hovers in the twentysomethings. Men tend to be a few years older, at 26, while women were 24 on average.

- What a surprise!! Could it be an unequal distribution to leisure time between genders? Ya why dont we spend money on that research too. Open your eyes.

- Perhaps today’s women are too busy trying to earn actual income to find time to continue volunteering in the capacity they have always pioneered in the past. If Wikipedia would allow payment for the type of skills it requires to actually get through the complicated procedure of publishing accurate articles on their site, maybe they could utilize the amazing workforce of women out there who are struggling to compensate their husband’s dwindling incomes and 401k’s by working from home.

- I’d say the editing atmosphere is argumentative and challenging rather than cooperative and helpful so anyone getting into editing usually gets kicked around a bit and perhaps one gender tolerates such abuse better than another.