Women@Work: More than just a Wikimedia contribution

Abstract/description

Art+Feminism, SheSaid, and WikiGap have long existed in the Wikimedia movement to cover topics that would bridge the gender gap in the movement. This project does not differ in scope and purpose, but the focus would not lean mostly on the biographical content of women. Apart from the common edit-a-thon we do, we have opted to directly immerse ourselves in the community to assess the status of the female workforce. From there, we were able to gather a topic list that should be developed in our local wiki projects that revolves around salary rate, employment status, gender bias in jobs, discrimination in workplaces, and other significant topics affecting the work of women in the Philippines.

Coming into contact with this demographic has provided us with direct answers from our end users about what topics they would want to be visible on Wikipedia and why these topics should be made available. Initially, we were able to interview several women in the workforce for different sorts of jobs. Their responses were analyzed, and the created topic list will be the target content for the upcoming Art+Feminism edit-a-thon 2024. This strategy, though it costs us a lot of time and effort to generate information as compared to a list-building tool, has helped us directly pinpoint what is indeed needed by the masses. Thus, we started the Women@Work immersion program.

Relationship to ESEAP or to the theme

We have asked ourselves what is beyond the horizon. Wikiprojects have served as mediators between the editors and the end users. An opportunity to converse outside the talk pages of Wikimedia projects has made our process of determining the needs of our local wikiprojects more human. It was devoid of any filtering done by the usual tools we have, though we don’t omit the reality that these are helpful tools for a lot of organizers. But doing outreach work aside from the usual editing brings the editors to the core of their work: the community. These audiences have collaborated with our work as Wikimedians in their own way, supplying us with relevant information about their work, their experiences as women, and inspirations for why they continue to do so.

Username/s

Session type

Lightning Talk

Duration

15 minutes

Session outcomes

Campaign organizers in different affiliates would learn strategies to come up with topics that are significant to their communities.
Participants can learn other ways to bridge the gender gap in wiki projects, including by interviewing women, knowing their experiences, and hearing directly from their stories.
Inspire affiliates to collaborate with underrepresented sectors in their communities.