Theses and Dissertations Collection

As a long-time and experienced editor and contributor to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the author of this thesis states, “If you want to change the world, edit Wikipedia.” This thesis makes a case for the existence of what has been called the gender gap and systemic bias on Wikipedia, the reality that there are fewer female editors and less content about women, especially biographies, than male editors and content about and for men.

This thesis describes the scope of the problem and describes historical reasons for it, insisting that it has been due to Wikipedia’s place in the history of the encyclopedia and Enlightenment-era philosophies and the commoditization of knowledge-building.

Finally, this thesis recommends ways to mitigate the effects of Wikipedia’s gender gap and systemic bias, including improvements in research techniques and ways to use the policies that have hindered Wikipedia’s stated goals for both the diversity of volunteer editors and contributors and to the diversity of content in Wikipedia.