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research-article

Conflict, criticism, or confidence: an empirical examination of the gender gap in wikipedia contributions

Authors:

Benjamin Collier,

Julia BearAuthors Info & Claims

CSCW '12: Proceedings of the ACM 2012 conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work

Pages 383 - 392

https://doi.org/10.1145/2145204.2145265

Published: 11 February 2012 Publication History

Abstract

A recent survey of contributors to Wikipedia found that less than 15% of contributors are women. This gender contribution gap has received significant attention from both researchers and the media. A panel of researchers and practitioners has offered several insights and opinions as to why a gender gap exists in contributions despite gender anonymity online. The gender research literature suggests that the difference in contribution rates could be due to three factors: (1) the high levels of conflict in discussions, (2) dislike of critical environments, and (3) lack of confidence in editing other contributors' work. This paper examines these hypotheses regarding the existence of the gender gap in contribution by using data from an international survey of 176,192 readers, contributors, and former contributors to Wikipedia, including measures of demographics, education, motivation, and participation. Implications for improving the design and culture of online communities to be more gender inclusive are discussed.

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Index Terms

Conflict, criticism, or confidence: an empirical examination of the gender gap in wikipedia contributions
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing

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cover image ACM Conferences

CSCW '12: Proceedings of the ACM 2012 conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work

February 2012

1460 pages

ISBN:9781450310864

DOI:10.1145/2145204

General Chairs:
Steven Poltrock
Boeing Research & Technology
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Carla Simone
University of Milano-Biccoca
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Program Chairs:
Jonathan Grudin
Microsoft Research
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Gloria Mark
University of California, Irvine
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John Riedl
University of Minnesota

Copyright © 2012 ACM.

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Published: 11 February 2012

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Cited By

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https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueae093
Chen ZHan J(2024)Her Lips Are Sealed: Effects of Negative Feedback on Women’s Participation in Online Political DiscussionsSocius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World10.1177/2378023124127172310Online publication date: 24-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241271723
Ardati AMiguel AVoss A(2024)Designing for Care in the Wikipedia CommunityProceedings of the Participatory Design Conference 2024: Full Papers - Volume 110.1145/3666094.3666112(75-85)Online publication date: 11-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3666094.3666112
Dobusch L(2024)Inklusive Online-Gemeinschaften? Über die Exklusionsbedingtheit jeder Form der Inklusion und plattformspezifische HandlungsspielräumeGleichstellung in progress10.1007/978-3-658-44365-8_5(75-91)Online publication date: 8-Aug-2024
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KRIVAA LCOSCIA M(2024)TRACES OF UNEQUAL ENTRY REQUIREMENT FOR ILLUSTRIOUS PEOPLE ON WIKIPEDIA BASED ON THEIR GENDERAdvances in Complex Systems10.1142/S021952592450003627:03Online publication date: 14-Jun-2024
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