Investigating the Impact of Interpersonal Challenges on Feeling Welcome in OSS

TL;DR

This study explores how interpersonal challenges negatively affect feelings of welcome in open source software communities, especially among marginalized groups, and provides insights for fostering more inclusive environments.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive analysis of interpersonal challenges' impact on diverse OSS contributors using large-scale survey data and advanced modeling techniques.

Findings

Interpersonal challenges are negatively associated with feeling welcome in OSS.

Gender minorities and people with disabilities experience more challenges, especially stalking, harassment, and doxxing.

Different demographic groups are affected differently by specific interpersonal challenges.

Abstract

The sustainability of open source software (OSS) projects hinges on contributor retention. Interpersonal challenges can inhibit a feeling of welcomeness among contributors, particularly from underrepresented groups, which impacts their decision to continue with the project. How much this impact is, varies among individuals, underlining the importance of a thorough understanding of their effects. Here, we investigate the effects of interpersonal challenges on the sense of welcomeness among diverse populations within OSS, through the diversity lenses of gender, race, and (dis)ability. We analyzed the large-scale Linux Foundation Diversity and Inclusion survey (n = 706) to model a theoretical framework linking interpersonal challenges with the sense of welcomeness through Structural Equation Models Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM). We then examine the model to identify the impact of these challenges on different demographics through Multi-Group Analysis (MGA). Finally, we conducted a regression analysis to investigate how differently people from different demographics experience different types of interpersonal challenges. Our findings confirm the negative association between interpersonal challenges and the feeling of welcomeness in OSS, with this relationship being more pronounced among gender minorities and people with disabilities. We found that different challenges have unique impacts on how people feel welcomed, with variations across gender, race, and disability groups. We also provide evidence that people from gender minorities and with disabilities are more likely to experience interpersonal challenges than their counterparts, especially when we analyze stalking, sexual harassment, and doxxing. Our insights benefit OSS communities, informing potential strategies to improve the landscape of interpersonal relationships, ultimately fostering more inclusive and welcoming communities.