Motivated and Capable but No Space for Error: Women’s Experiences in Contributing to Open Source Software

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research study about the experiences of women in open source software (OSS) communities. The lack of women in computing professions serves as a cause of social inequity and in this research we develop a nuanced understanding of the experiences of women participating in open-source software. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with eleven women representing multiple countries and a variety of open-source software projects. The theory of individual differences in gender and information technology (IT) laid the foundation for data analysis and interpretation. The results demonstrate varied experiences of women, the need for women-to-women mentoring, and the need for presence and enforcement of codes of conduct in the online communities. Women shared their experiences of working in a variety of roles and the importance of all the roles in product development and maintenance. The persistence of women in OSS communities despite the toxic masculine culture, and their interest in improving the environment for other women and marginalized newcomers, was evident from the interviews.