Join us in writing Wikipedia biographies of women in STEM in May and June. Help us increase the visibility of women in STEM and inspire the next generation of women scientists. I wrapped up the semester and applied to join the 500 Women Scientists Wiki Scholars program, which provided instruction with Wikipedia experts, live mentoring via Zoom, asychronous support via Slack, and an incredibly supportive community of newcomers to Wikipedia.
I’ve been taking the time this summer to build my own Wikipedia editing skills, and I’ve been extremely pleased with how many opportunities there have been for my own professional development, how quickly I’ve been able to contribute to Wikipedia biography pages, and how I’ve been able to assist others in making their first edits. And I was finally ready to dive in with my students this past spring semester and have my class edit Wikipedia pages – but the semester shift to online learning had me pull back, with too many unknowns with students’ ability to access technology, and my own lack of confidence in my ability to provide a positive Wikipedia experience through remote instruction. I’ve blogged previously about Wikipedia – Wikipedia edit-a-thon for women in STEM (2015), Wikipedia turns 15 – but do academics trust this teenager? (2016), Wikipedia Year of Science 2016 (2016), and Why Wikipedia edit-a-thons are needed, and how we can help (2019).