Wikipedia:Under-representation of science and women in Africa: Wikimania 2018 an opportunity to bridge the gap

 Under-representation of science and women in Africa: Wikimania 2018 an opportunity to bridge the gap  

Africa’s contribution to science
Africa with about 16% of the world’s population contributes about 3%, in 2014, of global scientific publications.

Under representation of women in science
Globally women are under-represented in science; a 2013-2014 report states that 12% of sixty nine surveyed science academy members were women. Similarly, on Wikipedia the online encyclopaedia, there is under representation of women by way of their biographies, approximately 17% on the English language Wikipedia, as of October 2017.

Wikimania 2018 an opportunity
Wikimania 2018, the yearly conference for the Wikimedia Foundation, the organisation which hosts Wikipedia, will be held for the first time in sub-Saharan Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. In South Africa, Wikipedia is one of the top ten most visited websites (number six as of October 2017).

It has been suggested that greater visibility of women in science can help ameliorate their under-representation. Wikimania 2018 represents an opportunity to increase the visibility of women scientists in a continent also under-represented by way of scientific publications. More broadly this project aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development goal of achieving gender equality by 2030.

Aim
•	To write Wikipedia biographies of South African women scientists.

Action
•	Wikipedia biographies will be written, based on Wikipedia notability criteria, using a contemporary list of members of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

Dissemination plans
•	Article in the South African Journal of Science •	Wikimania 2018 presentation •	Social media e.g. Twitter, Facebook

A dynamic list, in alphabetic order by surname, of Women members of the Academy of Science of South Africa

 * Please kindly also mention in the created article membership of the Academy of Science of South Africa and add a citation to the members list (ref 8 below ) to avoid the article being speedily deleted.

The names are cited in this list from the Academy of Science of South Africa and new members, 2017, were added from this list


 * 1) Quarraisha Abdool Karim - previous: 27 September 2014‎
 * 2) Miriam Adhikari - new 17 October 2017
 * 3) Jill Adler - new 18 October 2017
 * 4) Lucinda Backwell - new 29 December 2017
 * 5) Priscilla Baker - new 22 January 2018
 * 6) Marion Bamford
 * 7) Ann Bernstein
 * 8) Judith Bishop (computer scientist)
 * 9) Sonja Bosch
 * 10) Liesbeth Botha
 * 11) Stephanie Burton
 * 12) Jane Carruthers
 * 13) Jennifer Case
 * 14) Rachel Chikwamba - new 9 March 2018
 * 15) Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan - previous: 25 December 2014‎
 * 16) Maureen Coetzee - new 26 October 2017
 * 17) Theresa Coetzer
 * 18) Jeanet Conradie
 * 19) Anna Coutsoudis - new 18 October 2017
 * 20) Cheryl de la Rey - previous: 1 April 2010‎
 * 21) Zodwa Dlamini - created 15 July 2018
 * 22) Zodwa Dlamini (biochemist) - created 15 July 2018
 * 23) Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie
 * 24) Roseanne Diab - new 31 December 2017
 * 25) Tania Douglas
 * 26) Colleen Downs
 * 27) Kathleen Driver
 * 28) Jeanetta du Plessis
 * 29) Willemien du Plessis
 * 30) Liesel Ebersöhn
 * 31) Adrienne Edkins
 * 32) Irma Eloff
 * 33) Petra Engelbrecht
 * 34) Sabiha Essack
 * 35) Jill Farrant - previous: 31 May 2012‎
 * 36) Loretta Feris
 * 37) Rosalie Finlayson
 * 38) Sharon Fonn - new 30 December 2017
 * 39) Igle Gledhill
 * 40) Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela - previous: 16 November 2007‎
 * 41) Glenda Gray - previous: 21 August 2014‎
 * 42) Mellony Graven
 * 43) Diane Grayson (physicist)
 * 44) Minrie Greeff
 * 45) Carolyn Hamilton (historian) - previous: 5 March 2016
 * 46) Susan Thérèse Largier Harrison
 * 47) Shireen Hassim
 * 48) Diane Hildebrandt (chemist)
 * 49) Karen Hofman
 * 50) Isabel Hofmeyr (in KiSwahili)
 * 51) Jenny Hoobler
 * 52) Sarah Jane Howie
 * 53) Heidi Hudson
 * 54) Nicola Illing
 * 55) Hilary Janks
 * 56) Rifka Kfir
 * 57) Ayesha Kharsany
 * 58) Carolina Koornhof
 * 59) Renée C. Kraan-Korteweg - new 18 October 2017‎
 * 60) Anna Kramvis
 * 61) Salome Kruger
 * 62) Maryke Labuschagne
 * 63) Alison Lewis
 * 64) Antoinette Lombard - new 11 January 2018
 * 65) Catriona Macleod
 * 66) Nomathemba Virginia Magi
 * 67) Lenore Manderson - previous: 9 August 2013‎
 * 68) Delia Marshall
 * 69) Judith Masters
 * 70) Angela Mathee
 * 71) Veronica McKay
 * 72) Lirieka Meintjes-Van der Walt
 * 73) Valerie Mizrahi - previous: 18 November 2015
 * 74) Dhayendre Moodley - new 30 November 2017
 * 75) Penelope Moore
 * 76) Kathryn Myburgh
 * 77) Christina Mynhardt
 * 78) Shamila Nair
 * 79) Marie-Louise Newell
 * 80) Catherine Ngila - new 17 October 2017
 * 81) Stella Nkomo
 * 82) Sarah Nuttall
 * 83) Catherine Odora Hoppers
 * 84) Ruksana Osman - new 5 January 2018
 * 85) Claire Penn - previous: 10 April 2016‎
 * 86) Nancy Phaswana-Mafuya
 * 87) Deborah Posel
 * 88) Dorrit Posel
 * 89) Sharon Prince
 * 90) Gita Ramjee
 * 91) Mamphela Ramphele - previous: 13 November 2004‎
 * 92) Michèle Ramsay - new 25 October 2017
 * 93) Priscilla Reddy
 * 94) Helen Rees - previous: 15 February 2017‎
 * 95) Linda Marlene Richter
 * 96) Laetitia Rispel - new 15 October 2017
 * 97) Cornelia Roux
 * 98) Maria Schoeman
 * 99) Mary Catherine Scholes
 * 100) Aletta Schutte
 * 101) Soraya Seedat
 * 102) Sheona Shackleton
 * 103) Tamara Shefer
 * 104) Precious Sibanda
 * 105) Olive Shisana
 * 106) Ruth Simbao
 * 107) Ratnamala Singh
 * 108) Himla Soodyall - previous: 30 August 2009
 * 109) Daniela Cristina Stefan
 * 110) Nthoana Tau-Mzamane
 * 111) Jennifer Ann Thomson
 * 112) Caroline Tiemessen - new 26 October 2017
 * 113) Fiona Tregenna
 * 114) Annél van Aswegen
 * 115) Heidi van Rooyen
 * 116) Louise Viljoen
 * 117) Renuka Vithal
 * 118) Wilma Viviers
 * 119) Lyn Wadley - previous: 27 November 2014‎
 * 120) Cherryl Walker (sociologist)
 * 121) Melanie Walker (educationalist)
 * 122) Vanessa Watson
 * 123) Paula Watt
 * 124) Patricia Ann Whitelock - new 20 October 2017
 * 125) Anna-Lise Williamson - previous: 3 April 2015‎
 * 126) Carolyn Williamson - new 15 March 2022
 * 127) Brenda Wingfield - previous: 29 March 2017‎
 * 128) Marié Wissing - new 15 March 2022
 * 129) Rachel Wynberg - new 15 March 2022
 * 130) Taryn Young - new 4 January 2018
 * 131) Heather Zar - new 16 October 2017

Participants (please add your name below):

 * Ear-phone (talk) 15:23, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Ipigott (talk) 15:53, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Discott (talk) 09:20, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Pharaoh of the Wizards (talk) 10:48, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Rosiestep (talk) 19:37, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Megalibrarygirl (talk) 20:20, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Netha  (talk)  09:19, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Jackiekoerner (talk) 16:47, 5 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Great11 (talk) 16:09, 8 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Jess Wade (Jess Wade) 13:29, 15 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Spinster300 (talk) 12:19, 15 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Cattywampus23 (talk) 15:58, 21 May 2022 (UTC)