Bridging the Online Gender Gap: Rebecca MacKinnon and the Fight for Gender Equity on Wikipedia

Written by Sara Bach, MDI Communications Assistant

Lack of representation of women editors and women contributors has long been a challenge at Wikipedia, reflecting broader societal disparities in representation and visibility. In fact, only 19% of Wikimedia content, including biographies on Wikipedia, is about women. Furthermore, only 13% of Wikipedia editors identify as women.

Rebecca Mackinnon is Vice President of Global Advocacy at the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit that supports and operates Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects to ensure access to reliable information worldwide. In this role, Mackinnon has been working to identify and address the barriers that have contributed to Wikipedia’s gender gap.

The Wikipedia Gender Gap

“Recent changes in technology over the past couple of years make Wikipedia more important than ever if we want to be well-informed,” said Mackinnon. “This makes it more critical that the most diverse range of people possible can contribute to Wikipedia, and that its pages represent all the world’s people and knowledge.”

However, achieving a more gender representative group of editors does not come without challenges. Since Wikipedia articles are verified based on existing published sources, which have historically excluded female perspectives, it is more difficult to include material published by editors who identify as women. 

This lack of female representation in existing published sources has directly contributed to the lack of women-focused content and biographies shared on Wikipedia.

In her role as the Vice President of Global Advocacy at Wikimedia Foundation, Mackinnon and her team work with organizations around the world to provide people of all backgrounds with the time and resources to contribute to the editor community.

Georgetown’s Wikipedia Edit-a-thon

Events such as Georgetown University’s 2nd Annual Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for Women’s History Month, organized by the Massive Data Institute and co-hosted with the Georgetown University Women’s Center and Georgetown University Library in partnership with 20 other groups on campus, are among the key initiatives aiming to bridge the gender gap. 

“Efforts such as this edit-a-thon are important tools that can address the gender gap,” according to Mackinnon.

In addition to the Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, Mackinnon highlights a range of campaigns, groups, and contests dedicated to closing this gender gap. These include groups such as WikiWomen and Art + Feminism, as well as initiatives such as CelebrateWomen, VisibleWomen, Women in Red, and SheSaid.

One group in particular that MacKinnon emphasizes is the WikiWomen Task Force, a dedicated team of volunteer editors who support and empower women to pursue leadership roles and influence decisions on notable topics and biographies included on Wikipedia.

“The Task Force coordinates volunteers’ efforts at closing the gender gap in all respects by ensuring that volunteers from all backgrounds, especially people from groups historically underrepresented on Wikipedia, have access to the best mentorship and leadership training,” said MacKinnon.

Another way that the Wikimedia Foundation has sought to increase female participation and decrease gender gaps is by strengthening anti-harassment policies to create a safer editing environment. MacKinnon stresses that a gender-inclusive Wikipedia requires multi-faceted changes at multiple levels.

“Closing the gender and knowledge gaps on Wikipedia in the long term not only depends on women who join as rank-and-file volunteer editors, but also women who get elected by their peers to positions of authority within the editor community,” said MacKinnon.

Looking Forward

Through all of these initiatives and groups working towards this cause, MacKinnon remains optimistic about the future of Wikipedia.

“In the next decade, we envision continued, steady progress toward a Wikipedia that truly reflects the range of people, events, histories, and languages that exist across our complex and diverse world,” said MacKinnon. “More women will not only participate in Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects, but they will also hold a greater percentage of leadership roles within the volunteer community. Their presence and leadership will in turn help to further diversify the people who contribute to Wikipedia as well as the content they create.”

She also predicts a future where Wikipedia projects will be more accessible to underserved communities, such as those with limited internet access, individuals with disabilities, and non-English speakers.

Furthermore, the Wikimedia Foundation, alongside its volunteer community, hopes to develop mobile-friendly tools, better translation support, and more localized resources to empower volunteers to contribute in their own languages. These efforts aim to make Wikipedia a more inclusive and accessible platform for contributors worldwide.

Overall, the work of MacKinnon and the Wikimedia Foundation underscores the efforts to create a more inclusive, representative Wikipedia community in which contributions reflect a broader range of voices.

“When more people from more geographies and backgrounds contribute, especially from communities that are historically underrepresented on the internet, knowledge gaps are closed. This brings a broader, more accurate view of history, science, and culture to Wikipedia,” said MacKinnon. “People are inclined to engage more when they see their experiences and identities represented. Their engagement and contributions in turn build a stronger and more diverse editing community over the long run.”

For those interested to continue editing and learning more, MDI offers resources on its website. The impact of these collective efforts extends beyond Georgetown’s campus, contributing to a global movement to make online knowledge spaces more representative of our diverse world. Stay tuned for information on additional edit-a-thons.