DiversiWiki | Optica

Get Involved

Wikipedia is the fifth most visited site in the world. Being such an important resource of information, representation matters! Raising the visibility of underrepresented people in science provides recognition of their contributions which can be inspirational to others as well as diversify the pool of scientific experts perceived by government, media and institutions. Additionally, strengthening existing information on the science of optics can help educate and inspire.

Did you know only 18% of the 1.6 million biographies in the English Wikipedia are about women?

The figure is lower for people tagged as scientists – only 16% of almost 150,000 articles.

You can make a difference. Use the below resources to become a Wikipedia editor and jump right in to editing, updating and adding new articles to Wikipedia and help ensure the optical science and scientist pages truly respect the spectrum.

How to Get Started

Register as a Wikipedia Editor here.
Read the Wiki FAQ sheet for more tips.

Ways You Can Help

Improve Diversity – By having more editors focused on strengthening existing or creating new pages for the underrepresented people in science. Visit the Wikipedia Cultural Diversity Observatory to learn more about efforts to improve diversity on the site.

Translate Pages – Wikipedia pages exist in multiple languages but not all pages are equal. Translate existing pages where the page does not yet exist, or includes significantly less information. By translating the pages about optical science and scientists into different languages we can help the distribution of information on a global scale.

Simple Wiki – The Simple English Wikipedia is designed for children and adults who are learning English. By contributing to these pages you can open the door to the world of optics and physics to new populations and inspire the next generation of scientists.