Global Gender Differences in Wikipedia Readership

Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, vol. 15, pp. 254–265

Abstract

Wikipedia represents the largest and most popular source of encyclopedic knowledge in the world, aiming to provide equal access to information worldwide. From a global online survey of 65,031 readers of Wikipedia and their corresponding reading logs, we present first evidence of gender differences in Wikipedia readership and how they manifest in records of user behavior. More specifically we report that (1) women are underrepresented among readers of Wikipedia, (2) women view fewer pages per reading session than men do, (3) men and women visit Wikipedia for similar reasons, and (4) men and women exhibit specific topical preferences. Our findings lay the foundation for identifying pathways toward knowledge equity in the usage of online encyclopedic knowledge.

Authors 6

1. Isaac L. Johnson

   Wikimedia Foundation

   Affiliation as printed

   Wikimedia Foundation

2. Florian Lemmerich

   University of Passau

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Passau

   University Of Passau

3. Diego Sáez-Trumper

   Wikimedia Foundation

   Affiliation as printed

   Wikimedia Foundation

4. Robert West

   École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

   Affiliation as printed

   EPFL

5. Markus Strohmaier Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University · GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

   RWTH Aachen University#N#GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

6. Leila Zia

   Wikimedia Foundation

   Affiliation as printed

   Wikimedia Foundation