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Title: Perceptions of the state of D&I and D&I initiative in the ASF
Open Source Software (OSS) Foundations and projects are investing in creating Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) initiatives. However, little is known about contributors’ perceptions about the usefulness and success of such initiatives. We aim to close this gap by investigating how contributors perceive the state of D&I in their community. In collaboration with the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), we surveyed 600+ OSS contributors and conducted 11 follow-up interviews. We used mixed methods to analyze our data–quantitative analysis of Likert-scale questions and qualitative analysis of open-ended survey question and the interviews to understand contributors’ perceptions and critiques of the D&I initiative and how to improve it. Our results indicate that the ASF contributors felt that the state of D&I was still lacking, especially regarding gender, seniority, and English proficiency. Regarding the D&I initiative, some participants felt that the effort was unnecessary, while others agreed with the effort but critiqued its implementation. These findings show that D&I initiatives in OSS communities are a good start, but there is room for improvements. Our results can inspire the creation of new and the refinement of current initiatives.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1900903
PAR ID:
10418882
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
ACM/IEEE 44rd International Conference on Software Engineering, SEIS - Software Engineering in Society (ICSE SEIS 2022)
Page Range / eLocation ID:
130 to 142
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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