Page:Wikipedia and Academic Libraries.djvu/86

Rh Our focus on information literacy as social justice strengthened the disciplinary goals that Jessica already had for her course. Jessica asked learners to think deeply about gender inequality—how it emerges, how it perpetuates, and possibilities for mitigating it—as a key course goal. rough the Wikipedia editing assignment, learners expanded on this theme by experiencing how information creation and information access are also shaped by global and gendered inequalities.

Gender Bias on Wikipedia

We employed feminist pedagogy when we asked learners to interrogate gender bias as a social justice issue on Wikipedia (Accardi, 2013; Hoodfar, 1992). We introduced learners to the information gaps that exist on Wikipedia (and, more broadly, in the literature) and asked them to use their experiences on the platform to reflect on these inequalities. Here, we unpack some of the issues around gender bias on Wikipedia.

The guidelines for knowledge production in English-language Wikipedia, while necessary, often perpetuate a gender bias in what is considered notable and publishable. This is evidenced most conspicuously in the “notability” pillar (discussed previously as an example of the frame Authority Is Constructed and Contextual). This pillar—a crucial part of how Wikipedia can minimize editors’ explicit biases—is especially problematic for women based on the verifiability requirement, which states that for an article to exist, the topic must have received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject (Harrison, 2019). Perhaps most famously, Donna Strickland, a Nobel Prize winner in physics, was not granted her own Wikipedia page, even though her male collaborators were, as she had not received enough media coverage to satisfy the verifiability requirement (Koren, 2018).

Wikipedia’s structure also contributes to gender bias on the platform. Wikipedia’s foundational infrastructures, policies, and technologies were built in a male-dominated culture that excluded women. Unfortunately, this led to a pervasive culture where women