Please Don't Go -- A Comprehensive Approach to Increase Women's Participation in Open Source Software

TL;DR

This paper investigates how open source software communities can effectively increase women's participation by understanding their motivations and developing targeted attraction and retention strategies, evaluated through empirical studies.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive approach combining empirical research on women's motivations with practical strategies co-designed with the Linux Foundation to boost women's OSS participation.

Findings

Identification of women's motivations and career pathways in OSS

Development of tailored attraction and retention strategies

Empirical evaluation of strategy effectiveness

Abstract

Women represent less than 24% of employees in the software development industry and experience various types of prejudice and bias. Despite various efforts to increase diversity and multi-gendered participation, women are even more underrepresented in Open Source Software (OSS) projects. In my PhD, I investigate the following question: How can OSS communities increase women's participation in their projects? I will identify different OSS career pathways and develop a holistic view of women's motivations to join or leave OSS, as well as their definitions of success. Based on this empirical investigation, I will work together with the Linux Foundation to design attraction and retention strategies focused on women. Before and after implementing the strategies, I will conduct empirical studies to evaluate the state of the practice and understand the implications of the strategies.