When Canadian physicist Donna Strickland was announced as one of the winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2018, there was no Wikipedia page chronicling her career and accomplishments, despite her groundbreaking research.
When Canadian physicist Donna Strickland was announced as one of the winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2018, there was no Wikipedia page chronicling her career and accomplishments, despite her groundbreaking research.
While a Wikipedia page about Strickland has since been created, the fact remains that women—and women in STEM in particular—remain underrepresented on Wikipedia, where only 22 per cent of STEM entries are about women.
To bridge this digital gap, and in celebration of International Women in Engineering Day 2019, Engineers Canada and Ingenium have teamed up to host the first-ever Women in Engineering Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, ON, on June 23, 2019.
In Canada, only 13.1 per cent of engineers are women. As the engineering community and others work to attract and retain more girls and women in engineering, it’s important to recognize, document, and celebrate the accomplishments of the many women who have had a lasting impact on the engineering profession and on Canadian society through their engineering work.
Youth or adults who would like to research and create, edit, or translate a Wikipedia page for a good cause are invited to attend. Participation is free; however, space is limited, so be sure to register today to reserve your spot. The edit-a-thon will kick-off with instructions on creating and editing Wikipedia pages from a Senior Wikipedian, after which participants will select an engineer who is a woman to research and profile. Participants are asked to bring their own laptop so that they can conduct online research and can edit Wikipedia, and they are welcome to use the resources of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum library.
Engineers Canada is encouraging partners from across the country to host their own edit-a-thons (contact cassandra.polyzou@engineerscanada.ca if interested in hosting an edit-a-thon). The goal is to see dozens of people across Canada working to research and record the contributions of Canadian women in engineering. This will raise the profile of women in engineering and will hopefully inspire other girls and women to follow in their footsteps.
Event details
Date: Sunday, June 23, 2019
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
Location: Canada Aviation and Space Museum, 11 Aviation Pkwy, Ottawa, ON, K1K 2X5
Cost: Free!
Languages: English and French
Register
About
Ingenium’s three museums — the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Science and Technology Museum — provide a sensory experience that immerses young and old alike in the countless ways science and technology connect with Canadians’ everyday lives. Through Ingenium’s Women in STEM initiative, they aim to make women in STEM more visible, to promote careers for women in STEM, to highlight issues of gender inequality and to celebrate achievements and advocates. They also aim to shed light on persistent, often implicit, gender biases in order to improve women’s participation, inclusion, leadership and recognition in STEM. Learn more on Ingenium’s website.
International Women in Engineering Day is an international awareness campaign to raise the profile of women in engineering and focuses attention on the amazing career opportunities available to girls in this exciting industry. Learn more on the International Women in Engineering Day website.
