Wikipedia is 10 years old now and the largest source of knowledge in the land. Available in more than 250 languages and with over 3.5 million articles in English, there is no arguing that Wikipedia is popular among everyone. Anyone can contribute to Wikipedia, though this becomes an argument against its accuracy. A recent survey suggests that Wikipedia is another male dominated environment.
The March 2010 survey by Wikipedia found that only 13 percent of the contributors were female. Today, however, the figures are a little nicer. 15 percent of contributors are female, and that number has now climbed a mere two percent.
The executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, Sue Gardner, has set a goal: To get 25 percent of contributors to be female by 2015. However, she is going up against the typical stereotype in the computer world that women find it a difficult and uncomfortable environment.
This isn't diversity for the sake of being diverse, though. Gardner has said in an interview,
This is about wanting to ensure that the encyclopedia is as good as it could be, The difference between Wikipedia and other editorially created products is that Wikipedians are not professionals, they are only asked to bring what they know.
Traditionally, women have lagged behind men in adoption of Internet technologies. However, it seems that this is changing, and Wikipedia wants to encourage that change.
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