It is a titanic challenge that Jess Wade has set for himself. At the age of 33, the English physicist decided to write on Wikipedia biographies of all the world’s scientists, who in his eyes have never been recognized for their fair value. The online encyclopedia already includes more than 60 million articles.
Work started in 2017
It was during a scientific event in 2017 that Jess Wade met Kim Cobb, an American climatologist who, despite her extensive research and distinctions, was not the subject of a Wikipedia biography. Jess Wade then decides to remedy it.
This is where her quest for a more complete, but above all more diverse, Wikipedia begins: “Despite being an incredibly important resource, Wikipedia suffers from a lack of content, particularly when it comes to women but also to people of color,” Jess Wade explained to the Washington Post.
Therefore, since 2017, Jess Wade has written more than 1,750 Wikipedia pages dedicated to all these people little or nothing known to the general public, but who have achieved great things in the field of science. The young physicist now even has her own Wikipedia page, listing all of her engagements, research, and awards.
The very masculine universe of Wikipedia
Wikipedia is one of the most visited sites in the world with almost 500 million visitors each month. It is even the most visited in several countries around the world, including France, according to a recent study by Hostinger. And yet, the online encyclopedia with 60 million biographies would not be equal enough.
Therefore, projects are being launched to improve this situation, such as with “Women in Red”, a group made up of Wikipedia editors and dedicated to gender bias on the platform. The project takes its name from the red hyperlinks on Wikipedia pages placed when the platform does not know the person.
For this reason, “Women in Red” has been carrying out studies since 2015 to observe the evolution of the diversification of Wikipedia pages. In October 2022, only 19% of Wikipedia pages in English would be dedicated to women. An increase of almost 4% in eight years, which remains, however, insufficient.
However, the many contributors to the platform are trying to join forces to increase these figures. Edit-a-thons have been organized in various cities around the world for several years.
The goal is simple: communities organize themselves throughout a day to improve and add Wikipedia pages on a particular topic. The will of these groups is also to feminize this volunteering, with the percentage of editors on Wikipedia being very low. The online encyclopedia is only 10% female writers.
For his part, Jess Wade continues adding biographies and his efforts are not in vain. Anusha Alikhan, deputy director of communications for the Wikimedia Foundation, announced to the Washington Post that the number of pages dedicated to women had increased between “15 and 19%” in three years, or more than 75,000 new women to discover.
Source: BFM TV
