Investigating the Impact of Interpersonal Challenges on Feeling Welcome in OSS

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,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings / International Conference on Software Engineering pp. 717 - 729
Main Authors: Trinkenreich, Bianca, Feng, Zixuan, Choudhuri, Rudrajit, Gerosa, Marco, Sarma, Anita, Steinmacher, Igor
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Published: IEEE 26.04.2025
Subjects:
Analytical models
belonging
challenges
Cultural differences
diversity
inclusivity
Mathematical models
open source
Open source software
OSS
People with disabilities
Regression analysis
Software engineering
Surveys
Sustainable development
toxicity
Toxicology
welcomeness
ISSN:1558-1225
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1558-1225
DOI:10.1109/ICSE55347.2025.00056