“It was fulfilling to be part of the movement to bring these excellent minds to light so that more people know that STEM is for everyone.”
“Contributing a biography of a diverse person in STEM to Wikipedia is a significant step towards addressing the underrepresentation of women and people of color on the platform. As a STEM major and a black woman, I find it empowering to see [these] individuals recognized for their contributions, as it validates the importance of diversity in these fields and provides role models for future generations, including myself.”
“Editing Wikipedia was life-changing.”
Two years ago, Wiki Education announced a grant from the Broadcom Foundation to bring historically excluded figures in STEM to light by connecting higher education classrooms to Wikipedia.
The student quotes above, merely a fraction of the insightful participant feedback we’ve received along the way, underscore the multi-layered and profound impact of this project – on the individual student editors throughout their research and writing processes, and on their peers and on generations to come, inspired by these new contributions to Wikipedia.
Our partnership with Broadcom Foundation brought 131 new biographies of diverse leaders in STEM to Wikipedia, including historic figures like Blanche J. Lawrence, a biochemist who worked on the Manhattan Project, Mariah Gladstone, founder of online cooking platform Indigikitchen, and George Biddle Kelley, New York’s first officially registered Black engineer.
And now, thanks to generous new funding from the Broadcom Foundation, higher education students at institutions across the country will continue to build upon these efforts to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of diverse leaders in STEM.
“This partnership is one of the most important Broadcom Foundation has engaged in,” said Paula Golden, president of the Broadcom Foundation. “It brings stories of important STEM pioneers to light that inspire young people of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities to follow in their footsteps.”
Supported by Wiki Education’s resources and staff, the students will focus on expanding STEM biographies on Wikipedia, particularly of women and people of color in math and engineering, to showcase the pioneers who look like them.
The project will engage faculty members new to the Wikipedia Student Program, in addition to those who will have previously empowered their students to improve and add to Wikipedia’s biographies through their Wikipedia assignments.
Interested in incorporating a Wikipedia assignment into your course? Visit teach.wikiedu.org to learn more about the free resources, digital tools, and staff support that Wiki Education offers to postsecondary instructors in the United States and Canada.
