Grants:IdeaLab/Make wikipedia resume-relevant

Inspire campaign

Make wikipedia resume-relevant

Posting and editing on Wikipedia should enhance women's careers

idea creator• Svetaohio

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created on21:35, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Project idea

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

Women and minorities may face obstacles that require them to work 'twice as hard' to be taken seriously as students and in their careers. Why edit for Wikipedia when it pays nothing, gains you no recognition in your field or from colleagues, and may even take away time from studies, work experience, or building a personal blog or portfolio online that could help you to build a solid career?

What is your solution?

Finding ways to reward those who consistently contribute to Wikipedia through public recognition, awards, fellowships, networking opportunities, and line-items on a CV would help incentivize overworked women to share what they know in the public sphere.

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Endorsements

• I see this as a possible way of countering the "less available time" theory behind why women edit less than men. I'd like to see more details about this idea! -Thepwnco (talk) 18:01, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
• Especially useful for women to be offered some type of recognition for their volunteer work since the extra time needed to volunteer for Wikipedia is competing with time they spend doing extra career boosting type of activities to break through the glass ceiling. Sydney Poore/FloNight (talk) 11:08, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
• I think this would be a great role for chapters. Working for Wikimedia UK we have already given references for volunteers who have done things like staff a cloakroom for an couple of days at a conference, I see no great problems extending that to other voluntary roles within the movement such as photography or editing. I see this mostly being relevant to teenagers wanting a referecne for their first job, but it might also be helpful for women coming back to work after long career breaks to have children. Jonathan Cardy WereSpielChequers (talk) 14:06, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
• Wikimedia CH (Switzerland) offers a certificate for the work done by a volonteer for Wikipedia. This can be used in a CV (which are very important in Switzerland to get a new job). I think we should inform more about this new possibility, especially young woman. --Hadi (talk) 14:48, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
• I've been encouraging professors for years to add wikipedia editing to their students research paper assignments as a way of helping students add both a new skill (ability to edit wiki) and publication credit (editor on wiki article) to their resum & portfolio of work. We've surveyed the students throughout the process and they love becoming contributors instead of just consumers. DrMel (talk) 13:50, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

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