Women in business | January 2022

Online event 1-31 January 2022
Sunday market bread sellers in Uzbekistan

This month, we're hosting our first-ever editathon on women in business. This may sound less attractive than many of our topics but if we are to reduce the gender gap, it is really important. Statistics from Denelezh show that only about 12.5% of our biographies about business people are on women. This seems to be ridiculously low when we begin to look at women's achievements in business. You may be surprised by how many different areas of interest you can address to improve our coverage.

There are of course all those women who create or head companies or assist in their management. But then there are many other interesting areas in which women have business interests. In addition to women involved in brokerages, banks and financial institutions, there are those who produce films, television programs or stage shows. There are architects with their own firms, women who run newspapers, publishing houses, art galleries, fashion or cosmetics companies, or hotels and restaurants. Of special importance are all the entrepreneurs, often young women who have earned awards or become recognized as key players in their sectors of interest. Related professions such as business consultants or officials dealing with business or finance are also targets as are authors and academics specializing in business, and organizations of professional women. Have a look at the recently created WP:Women in Business to gain an idea of the many fields involved.

We hope both inexperienced and seasoned editors will join us in creating biographies and other articles about women in or associated with business, as well as their achievements, enterprises, writings, and awards. This virtual editathon allows enthusiasts wherever they may be to participate. Contributors are also welcome to add articles on any other notable women, for example under our #1day1woman priority.

The main goals of the event are:

• to encourage inexperienced editors and show them how they can contribute to Wikipedia by creating biographies of some of the world's most prominent women
• to draw the attention of more experienced editors to the need for concerted action in combating the systemic bias against the coverage of women and women's works
• to promote the new/improved articles and images through social media

What else?

• Below, you'll see a section where you can list the articles you create this month, and another section where you can add the images you have uploaded to Commons.
• This essay on creating women's biographies and our Ten Simple Rules might be helpful to newer editors.
• If you post about any of the articles on social media, please indicate you have done so next to the article name.