Women represent less than 24% of employees in the software development industry and experience various types of prejudice and bias. Despite various efforts to increase diversity and multi-gendered participation, women are even more underrepresented in Open Source Software (OSS) projects. In my Ph.D., I investigate the following question: How can OSS communities increase women’s participation in their projects? I will identify different OSS career pathways and develop a holistic view of women’s motivations to join or leave OSS, as well as their definitions of success. Based on this empirical investigation, I will work together with the Linux Foundation to design attraction and retention strategies focused on women. Before and after implementing the strategies, I will conduct empirical studies to evaluate the state of the practice and understand the implications of the strategies.

I completed a MSc in Computer Science at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro in April 2016. Currently, I am a PhD Student and Research Assistant at the School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University. I worked in IT industry from 2000 to 2019 as an IT Service Delivery Manager and Software and Infrastructure Project Manager. During the Master degree I researched about using measurement and strategies for IT Services. My research is on the intersection of Software Engineering (SE), HCI and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). Currently, my main focus on increasing diversity in Open Source Software development, and how to attract and retain more women in Open Source. My interests revolve around Human Aspects of Software Engineering, Empirical Software Engineering and Data Analysis. I have experience on both quantitative and qualitative research, maturity models, measurement, OKRs and KPIs, applying the methods and approaches that are most suitable for the problem and research. Since I was a kid, my hobbies have always been related to sports, love to swim (pool and open water), cycle and run. : )