Participation in Free Software Development

这个研究项目检查了自由软件开发的参与情况，特别关注于增加参与者多样性的宣传。虽然历史上参与自由软件的绝大多数是男性，但最近在自由软件开发中倡导性别多样性的呼声激增。在当代激进主义浪潮的推动下，这个项目提出了一个问题：为什么现在出现了如此活跃的性别政治？倡导和激进组织在解决性别和多样性失衡方面做了哪些工作？软件开发人员和其他参与者对他们的努力有何反应？该项目将提供数据和理论，帮助研究人员和参与者阐明参与技术项目如何拓宽性别认同，以及性别如何改变技术实践。这将更广泛地增进对妇女参与科学和工程的理解。为了进行这项研究，研究人员将结合面对面的参与者观察和深度访谈，以及对在线互动和产品（如用户论坛、列表服务等）的分析。通过这些多种方法，研究人员将发现和分析当代媒体和信息技术行动中性别代表和包容的实践。对女性制作自由软件的乐趣和动机的充分理解，不仅对女性参与自由软件，而且对女性参与相关的努力，包括专有软件生产、学术计算机科学、企业活动和其他形式的工程实践和技术文化都有影响。特别地，这个项目对自由软件中招募和保留女性的倡导者的努力的分析可能为其他科学领域更广泛的招募、指导和保留工作提供模型、教训或警示故事。这个项目将产生的关于性别和软件的知识具有强大的潜力，可以帮助决策者和学者就如何吸引和留住计算机科学领域的女性做出更好的决定。

This research project examines participation in free software development, with a special focus on advocacy to increase the diversity of participants. While historically participation in free software has been overwhelmingly dominated by men, there has been a recent explosion of advocacy championing gender diversity in free software development. Animated by this contemporary surge of activism, this project asks: Why has such a vibrant politics around gender emerged now? What are advocacy and activist groups doing to address gender and diversity imbalances? How have software developers and other participants reacted to their efforts? The project will present data and theory that will help researchers and participants alike articulate how participation in technical projects broadens gender identities as well as how gender changes technical practice. This will enhance understanding of women's participation in science and engineering more generally. To conduct the study, the researchers will combine in-person participant-observation and in-depth interviews with analysis of online interactions and products such as user forums, list-servs, etc. Through these multiple methods, the researchers will uncover and analyze practices of gender representation and inclusion in contemporary activism around media and information technologies. A robust understanding of women's pleasures and motivations in making free software has implications for women's participation not only in free software but in related endeavors including proprietary software production, academic computer science, entrepreneurial activities, and other forms of engineering practice and technical culture. In particular, the project's analysis of advocates' efforts to recruit and retain women in free software may provide models, lessons, or cautionary tales for wider recruitment, mentoring, and retention efforts in other scientific arenas. The knowledge this project will produce about gender and software has strong potential to help policymakers and academics make better decisions about how to attract and retain women in computer science.