Wikipedia Project Self Reflection
The gender inequality present in the editing of Wikipedia prompted the final research assignment of our Global Women's History class this year. With the knowledge that over 90% of Wikipedia editors are male, and that there are nearly no consistent female contributors, our class decided to participate in the editing process. While examining articles written about influential women, the danger in missing the female narrative became clear to our class. The other juniors and I chose to edit articles specifically on women in science. Having done prior research on Fe Del Mundo, the first woman to graduate from Harvard and an exemplary pediatrician for her time, I had already been exposed to the lack of depth included
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After the editing process, we were to collectively make an informative video to spread awareness of the gender gap on one of the internet's most influential sites. Along with my partners Marissa and Sandhya, I chose to focus on editing Rosalyn Sussman Yalow’s Wikipedia page. Despite her contribution to the Radioisotope Tracing Technique, and the fact she was the first American-born woman to win the Nobel Prize, no one in our class recognized her name, nor her achievements. While inspecting her talk section, our group noticed Yalow’s page was flagged as “start class” which is a title for the page’s maintenance category. According to Wikipedia, an article marked “start class” should only contain information considered a subcategory, due to its scope. This marking was concrete proof of the male domination and subcategorization of women on Wikipedia we were trying to bring awareness …show more content…
I gained a lot of knowledge about Rosalyn Sussman Yalow and the environment in which she thrived, albeit against all odds. I worked very hard to write impartially and include an unbiased, but truthful depiction of her experience. While reflecting on this process, I feel accomplished to have learned how to navigate multiple aspects of Wikipedia and feel especially proud that I have taken a part in making a change. I can now teach others, especially women in my community, how to edit Wikipedia and share their information. Although I am not sure that I will become a frequent editor of Wikipedia, I am excited to continue working on our short film, titled #WhyWeEdit, and hear the insights my teachers and classmates have to give on this important topic. Wikipedia is one of the most influential sources of information in the world, and I am proud to have contributed and improved a page within the comfort of a class
As Wikipedia has become more and more popular with students, some professors have become increasingly concerned about the online, reader-produced encyclopedia. While plenty of professors have complained about the lack of accuracy or completeness of entries, and some have discouraged or tried to bar students from using it.
From this assignment, I learned a lot not only about my subject, but also about the Internet. I think it's a great idea that people who are going to be teachers know about the great resources that are out there on the Internet. It is a very valuable tool for students, teachers, and the general public, and everyone should know what is out there from them to use. I feel that in my future career, the Internet will be a tool that I take full advantage of , and that I will share this information with my students so they to can use this great resource.
The most important discovery evolved from reading astute and diversified women. It sounds dramatic, but it is absolutely true. I have become incredibly angry about what I've been observing in my environment since my eyes were widened by the writers we have encountered, particularly bell hooks, Rich, Schell and the Blitz and Hurlbert book. I've also renewed interest in other writers during this class, like Mackinnon, Paglia, and Elizabeth Wurtzel.As a woman, I feel connected to the movement, and Iím sorry t...
Monroe, Kristen, et al. "Gender Equality in Academia: Bad News from the Trenches, and some Possible Solutions." Perspectives on Politics 6.2 (2008): 215-33. Print.
I was thinking about how far I’ve come in my battle for women's suffrage! So many big and exciting events have happened in the last few years. For example, when I was apart of the National American Woman Suffrage Association for 2 years, confounding the Congressional Union, and then founding the National Woman’s party! It’s crazy to think that I started my full-time suffrage career in 1912, and looking back, I’ve accomplished so much! I’ve led pickets at the White House and Congress and despite America’s entry into World War 1, I refused to abandon these tactics. My colleagues and I were arrested and imprisoned, but that didn’t stop us. We engaged in hunger strikes and sustained forced feedings at the hand of the authorities. All of these tactics
When someone thinks of the Civil Rights movement they picture Martin Luther King Junior giving his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Someone might also think of Malcolm X and sit-ins held by those a part of the movement. Ask someone if they can name three female leaders of the Civil Rights movement and they might mumble out a single name, Rosa Parks. Looking through manuscripts, thesis’s, and reports there’s a common reoccurrence of male lead groups being the center of all the attention. Behind every man is a great woman proves true during the Civil Rights movement as well. These women who helped shape American history are some of the strongest that have ever been, unfortunately they are also some of the most forgotten. During the Civil Rights
It matters who the makers of scientific knowledge are because their background knowledge, values, and concepts determine their choices about what they investigate and observe. The Feminist Critique is the argument among feminist scientists and philosophers that the lack of diversity among scientists is responsible for biases in the natural and social sciences (Barker & Kitcher, 2014). In the 20th century, scientists realized that they were not as objective as they thought, which lead to this idea.
As time pass by, women have fought without rest for their rights and acknowledgement. Thereby they’ve been able to acquire the opportunity to gain education and participate in labor and manufacture. They have been able to progress from a time in which they were
Clare Booth Luce, a woman who broke the gender barrier herself as the first abroad female ambassador, once said “Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn 't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don 't have what it takes"”. As a country, the United States of America has come leaps and bounds from where it began with women’s rights. Women were not allowed to vote, and now we have women running for president. But, women are still not always treated as equally as men. Women still cannot hold certain positions in the military, or even wear what they want without being told it is too risqué. Gender inequality is still astronomically prevalent in today 's society and can be seen throughout mass media, career opportunities, and in
“Scientists Not Immune from Gender Bias, Yale Study Shows.” Yale News. Yale University, 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
Macionis, John J. "Gender and Research." Society: The Basics. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 25. Print.
In many cases, women’s achievements are measured according to male oriented standards. I would like to argue with a more diverse approach to this cause. If humanity is comprised of both men and women, and we are equally dependent on each other for humanity’s survival, why are men and women not viewed as equals? These old attitudes are drilled into us from birth. If boys were taught mutual respect as they grew up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life. In the same way girls would need to be taught to set high goals; that they can reach as high as humanly possible. Unfortunately, typically male values and traditions have, over time, shaped the culture in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) fields. This has created, in many ways, a hostile learning and working environment for women. From time immemorial, women have been regarde...
High school has been a very interesting experience for me. It has definitely had its highs and lows and many confusing experiences in between. Overall, I feel like I have been equipped for not only college, but also life as a whole. High school has taught me many things, both academically and emotionally. It has revealed and exposed my true colors, both good and bad, and as a result, has built many aspects of my character. My experiences at Alameda High school and Alameda Community Learning Center have shaped me into the person that I am today.
What knowledge and skills are you gaining? Which of these are new and which already existed?
Throughout this term, my fellow classmates and I have had a chance to participate in a group project with two or three of our peers. The general topic was a vivid problem in a industry. Our class had a very wide and diverse sets of topics: from Styrofoam, to industrial hacking, to corruption in an influential international organization like FIFA, and so many more. Our group decided to develop a project named “Outsourcing and the price we pay for brands”. The name itselves is somewhat self-explanatory, however the problem is so much more complicated and interesting. In this paper, many struggles and concerns, of the group and of my my own, will be unfolded as I reflect the progress of this project.