Hacking History: Redressing Gender Inequities on Wikipedia Through an Editathon

Abstract

Editathons are a relatively new type of learning event, which enable participants to create or edit Wikipedia content on a particular topic. This paper explores the experiences of nine participants of an editathon at the University of Edinburgh on the topic of the Edinburgh Seven, who were the first women to attend medical school in 19th century United Kingdom. This study draws on the critical approach to learning technology to position and explore an editathon as a learning opportunity to increase participants’ critical awareness of how the Internet, open resources, and Wikipedia are shaping how we engage with information and construct knowledge. Within this, there is a particular focus on recognising persisting gender inequities and biases online. The qualitative interviews captured rich narrative learning stories, which traced the journey participants took during the editathon. Participants transformed from being online information consumers to active contributors (editors), prompting new critical understandings and an evolving sense of agency. The participants’ learning was focused in three primary areas: (1) a rewriting of history that redresses gender inequities and the championing of the female voice on Wikipedia (both as editors and subject matter); (2) the role of Wikipedia in shaping society’s access to and engagement with information, particularly information on traditionally marginalised subjects, and the interplay of the individual and the collective in developing and owning that knowledge; and (3) the positioning of traditional media in the digital age.

Exploring the gender gap in the Spanish Wikipedia: Differences in engagement and editing practices

“…Therefore, there is a lower retention rate among women than men, a finding consistent with Lam et al [ 12 ]. Although edit-a-thons oriented toward introducing women to Wikipedia appear to be a good lure [ 28 , 46 – 48 ], these friendly and supportive scenarios need to be more than sporadic events that disappear a few days later [ 19 , 49 ]. Indeed, this is a well-known factor reported by women editors [ 44 ].…”

Wikipedia Edit-a-thons and Editor Experience: Lessons from a Participatory Observation

“…The majority of research on edit-a-thons, however, view the events with a pedagogical lens considering them as collaborative learning events [7,21,30]. Oliver investigated the use of edit-a-thons as a substitute for classroom assignments when teaching information literacy.…”

“…Student's reflections in form of qualitative and quantitative data showed that they learned valuable lessons on researching information and writing, especially how to be critical about information sources [21]. Hood and Littlejohn, via the means of interviews, captured narrative learning stories of nine participants taking part in an edit-a-thon held at the University of Edinburgh [7]. The edit-a-thon was designed as an informal professional learning event that combines online activity with offline, in-person collaboration and interaction.…”

“…While the idea of hosting such events was first proposed in 2004, the Wikimedia Foundation cites the British Library to be the first to use of the word "edit-a-thon" to describe their event in January 2011 [12]. Research shows that edit-a-thons support new forms of knowledge construction, which allow opportunities for the democratisation of knowledge, the diversification of Wikipedia's editor demographic and the spread of information on traditionally marginalised subjects [7]. As mentioned, such gatherings -be they held virtual or physical -also foster recruitment and integration of newcomers and increase Wikipedia literacy among participants [7].…”

“…Research shows that edit-a-thons support new forms of knowledge construction, which allow opportunities for the democratisation of knowledge, the diversification of Wikipedia's editor demographic and the spread of information on traditionally marginalised subjects [7]. As mentioned, such gatherings -be they held virtual or physical -also foster recruitment and integration of newcomers and increase Wikipedia literacy among participants [7]. However, many aspects of edit-a-thons still remain unknown.…”