Latest gender diversity report highlights the importance of mentorship programs

Joining a community of 89,000 Stackers can be daunting, but when paired with a mentor, contributors are shown to stay longer and contribute more.

New data demonstrates the importance of mentoring through the lens of the Outreachy and Google Summer of Code programs. Newcomers who enter the community through a mentorship program boast a higher retention rate than other newcomers, at 13 percent versus less than 10 percent, respectively. In addition, these mentees contribute to the community for an average of 15 months, far longer than their three-month program duration. This report provides a springboard for additional research into mentorship programs, with the aim to identify and share best practices.

The latest Intel-sponsored gender diversity report from Bitergia continues to evolve and expand its research parameters in response to community and foundation feedback, incorporating several new areas of examination, including mentorship programs that serve the OpenStack community.

The report also reveals new data around representation within special interest groups and in mailing lists, as well as representation as session speakers. Women comprised 12 percent of event attendees over the last three OpenStack summits, accounting for an average 22 percent of keynote speakers and an average 12 percent of session speakers.

The ongoing OpenStack gender diversity research has been useful in raising greater awareness about the underrepresentation of females, and in turn, other minorities within the community. The results have led to many productive discussions across both the OpenStack and Linux communities, and has helped, in part, to form the basis of the CHAOSS Project’s Diversity & Inclusion Work Group.

The numbers have remained relatively consistent over time, offering a baseline against which to measure the community’s collective progress. The study also surfaces the need to pair qualitative with quantitative research to deliver further insight for meaningful action plans.

You can download the 25-page report here.

Do you have input about this study or diversity in general? Let us know at editorATopenstackdotorg.

Tags: Bitergia, community, diversity, Intel

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Allison Price

Director of Marketing & Community at Open Infrastructure Foundation

Allison manages Marketing Content initiatives including case study development, advertising campaigns, the Superuser online publication and OpenStack User Survey. Her past roles have specialized in social strategy and execution for both B2B and B2C global companies in the technology and consumer industries. In her spare time, she enjoys finding new hiking trails and sharing her love with Celine Dion with anyone and everyone who will listen.