On 12th June 2018, The Telegraph published an article by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, titled: ‘Why we need to close Wikipedia’s gender page gap’. The article sheds light on Wikipedia’s gender equality ratio, pointing out that despite being the fifth most visited website in the world, only 17 per cent of Wikipedia’s biographies are about women.
During this year’s London Tech Week (11th-17th June), Khan has set up an ‘Edit-a-thon’ in an attempt to “redress the balance.” With the help of schoolgirls across the city, Wikipedia’s experts and women in the tech industry, the initiative aims to create a surge in new pages about women, and add more detail to existing ones.
The article states: “Today, they will be adding women CEOs, editors, entrepreneurs, lawyers and artists who, in spite of their talent, profile and significant contributions to their industry – are still without Wikipedia entries.”
Among the new entries that will be created is Perminder Mann, the CEO of Bonnier Publishing UK. Mann has featured on The Bookseller’s list of the 100 most influential people in the publishing industry and appeared as one of only seven BAME women in a survey of the UK’s 1000 most powerful leaders, conducted by The Guardian and Operation Black Vote in 2017.
Mann commented: “Whilst it’s disappointing that only 17% of Wikipedia’s biographies are of women it’s not surprising, so it’s brilliant to see such a practical initiative designed to improve its gender equality ratio.
It’s hugely inspiring to think that school girls – the next generation of women CEOs, editors, entrepreneurs, lawyers and artists – will be playing such an active role in redressing the balance.
-Perminder Mann, CEO, Bonnier Publishing UK
It’s hugely inspiring to think that schoolgirls – the next generation of women CEOs, editors, entrepreneurs, lawyers and artists – will be playing such an active role in redressing the balance and I’m honoured to be among the new entries.”
You can read the full article here.
