Submissions/BoF Participatory Design (80 mins): Women's Participation

This is a Completed submission for Wikimania 2017 ready to be reviewed by a member of the Programme Committee.

Submission no. 2004 Subject - C4

Title of the submission: Designing for Women's Participation

Type of submission (lecture, panel, tutorial/workshop, roundtable discussion, lightning talk, poster, birds of a feather discussion): Birds of a Feather (BoF) / Participatory design session

Author of the submission: Amanda Menking (User:Mssemantics)

type of submission: Birds of a Feather (BoF)

Language of presentation: English

E-mail address: amenkinguw.edu

Username: User:Mssemantics

Country of origin: United States

Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.): University of Washington Information School

Personal homepage or blog: https://ischool.uw.edu/people/phd/amenking

Abstract (up to 300 words to describe your proposal)

The English language Wikipedia's "gender gap" is well documented and publicized; however, different projects throughout the movement represent a variety of gaps, challenges, cultures, and norms. What these projects have in common, though, is that women participate in multiple roles, ways, and capacities in all Wikimedia projects and yet they still tend to be underrepresented. In this Birds of a Feather session, we will engage in a participatory design session to re-imagine how Wikimedia (broadly construed) might mitigate women's negative experiences (e.g., harassment, unwanted sexual attention, emotion work, etc.) and support positive opportunities (e.g., chapter leadership, targeted WikiProjects like Women in Red and Women scientists, focussed initiatives like Art+Feminism and Wiki Women Mangaluru, etc.). This session is also intended to complement current conversations sparked by recent studies such as Ex Machina: Personal Attacks Seen At Scale and 'Anyone Can Edit,' Not Everyone Does: Wikipedia and the Gender Gap as well as Craig Newmark's donation.

This session will be participant-centered. Therefore, what we design will be determined by who attends. For example, participants may want to re-imagine policies, infrastructure, processes, and/or user interfaces, or they may want to generate ideas about interventions that take place off-wiki. However, the session will be organized around the principles of participatory design, and attendees will be encouraged to consider various stakeholders, including indirect and/or hidden stakeholders. To do this, we will employ the future workshop model. The artifacts generated by participants and analysis thereof will be shared with the communities and the Wikimedia Foundation. Participants of all genders are encouraged to attend, and we will follow the friendly space policy with care and attentiveness.

What will attendees take away from this session?

Attendees will gain insight into current research and conversations about participation and the "gender gap," but (most importantly) they will have the opportunity to brainstorm solutions to help mitigate the negative experiences women have had and to help support positive opportunities for women Wikimedians. Hopefully Wikimedians from across the movement will join the session and share what has and has not worked in their communities. After the event, all attendees will receive a carefully curated list of resources, digital copies of the artifacts created, and a digital copy of the analysis and final write-up of the participatory design session.

Theme of presentation

WikiCulture & Community

For workshops and discussions, what level is the intended audience?

Not applicable. All are welcome!

Length of session (if other than 25 minutes, specify how long): 80 minutes

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: Yes

Slides or further information (optional)

Special requests: I would be delighted to co-organize and/or co-facilitate this workshop with someone who speaks a language other than English.

Submission is a final submission: Yes.

This is a Completed submission for Wikimania 2017 ready to be reviewed by a member of the Programme Committee.

Interested attendees

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