We already know that web browsers can potentially be sexist and racist: research on web searches for images of doctors, lawyers or other professions has found that disproportionately more images of white males are depicted over other demographics.
But what about Wikipedia? Its visual representation of professionals is equally important given that it pops up in most top 10 search results from the web.
New research from the Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Germany finds that almost four times more images of men than women are used in German language Wikipedia articles describing various professions, with a significantly higher number of images depicting men even if there is female majority in the labour market for that profession.
The researchers hope this analysis can “inform guidelines for the Wikipedia community to identify and address gender disparities”.
