Ryerson Alumni - Summer 2013 - (Page 23)
aLuMnI pRofiles
Welcoming women
to WikiPEdiA
sUe GARdneR
BRidGes GendeR GAp
AmonG ediToRs of
online encyclopediA
By shARon AschAiek
Photo By VictoRiA WiLL, FRoM WikiMEdiA coMMonS, cc By SA 3.0
T
he world of Wikipedia is
brought to us by mainly men.
Sue Gardner, Journalism ’90,
says that should change.
Closing the gender gap among
those who voluntarily edit the free
online encyclopedia has been a key
goal for Gardner, current executive
director of the Wikimedia Foundation,
the San Francisco-based non-profit
that funds Wikipedia and its family
of Wiki websites. That may not
happen under her watch, since she
recently announced plans to leave the
organization by this fall. But, she says,
the fact that women make up only 10
per cent of Wikipedia’s 12,000 most
active contributors is problematic.
“If women are so dramatically
underrepresented among Wikipedia
editors, then we are going to miss
a lot of the world’s information,”
says Gardner, whose goal has been
to increase the female population of
Wikipedians to 25 per cent by 2015.
Before joining Wikimedia in 2007,
the 45-year-old Port Hope, Ont.-native
built a productive career at the CBC,
where she worked as a radio reporter,
news website producer and, at her
apex, senior director of CBC.ca. At
Wikimedia, Gardner significantly
boosted the organization’s staff and
donations — under her stewardship,
the latter increased to $23 million
in 2011 from $3 million in 2007. She
also worked to make Wikipedia more
accessible in Africa, South Asia and the
Middle East. Her accomplishments
landed her on Forbes Magazine’s 2012
World’s Most Powerful Women list.
To make Wikipedia more femalefriendly, Gardner partnered with universities to connect with female
students. She also encouraged
Wikipedians to invite their female
peers to contribute. As women are generally underrepresented in technology
— 2012 research by Women in Global
Science & Technology shows fewer than
30 per cent of computer science, engineering and physics workers worldwide
are women — Gardner also serves on the
board of The Ada Initiative, a non-profit
seeking to increase the participation of
women in technology.
Says Gardner: “Technology is
shaping our experience of the world
and its social impact is huge, so
it’s so important for women to be
represented.” n
ShARon ASchAiEk (ShARon@
cocoAMEdiA.cA) WRitES ABoUt
highER EdUcAtion iSSUES, tREndS
And gRAdUAtES.
S U M M E R 2013 •
Ryerson University Magazine 23
http://www.CBC.ca
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ryerson Alumni - Summer 2013
Ryerson Alumni - Summer 2013
President's Message
Showcase
Gould Street
Hello, World
Learning for Life
Board Q & A
Welcoming Women to Wikipedia
Super Scholar
Readers' Advocate
Research: The Science of Sweet and Salty
Giving Back
Alumni Diary / VP Viewpoint
Class Notes
Remember When?
Ryerson Alumni - Summer 2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com