Making Software Development More Diverse and Inclusive: Key Themes, Challenges, and Future Directions

TL;DR

This paper explores the challenges and opportunities in promoting diversity and inclusion in software development, emphasizing the importance of responsible research to maximize benefits and minimize harms for diverse user groups.

Contribution

It provides a systematic roadmap based on expert discussions to guide future research and practice in fostering diversity and inclusion in software engineering.

Findings

Identified six key themes around SDDI challenges and opportunities.

Highlighted the importance of balancing benefits and harms in SDDI research.

Discussed the cross-cutting impact of AI on SDDI and education.

Abstract

Introduction: Digital products increasingly reshape industries, influencing human behavior and decision-making. However, the software development teams developing these systems often lack diversity, which may lead to designs that overlook the needs, equal treatment or safety of diverse user groups. These risks highlight the need for fostering diversity and inclusion in software development to create safer, more equitable technology. Method: This research is based on insights from an academic meeting in June 2023 involving 23 software engineering researchers and practitioners. We used the collaborative discussion method 1-2-4-ALL as a systematic research approach and identified six themes around the theme challenges and opportunities to improve Software Developer Diversity and Inclusion (SDDI). We identified benefits, harms, and future research directions for the four main themes. Then, we discuss the remaining two themes, Artificial Intelligence & SDDI and AI & Computer Science education, which have a cross-cutting effect on the other themes. Results: This research explores the key challenges and research opportunities for promoting SDDI, providing a roadmap to guide both researchers and practitioners. We underline that research around SDDI requires a constant focus on maximizing benefits while minimizing harms, especially to vulnerable groups. As a research community, we must strike this balance in a responsible way.