Seminar: Do I Belong? Modeling Sense of Virtual Community Among Linux Kernel Contributors

ABSTRACT

This talk centers on the essential human need for belonging within a community, a need that significantly shapes behavior, long-term engagement, and job satisfaction. Drawing from research in fields like psychology, healthcare, and education, it explores the relevance of this need to contributors in Open Source Software (OSS) projects. I will present results from a quantitative investigation of belongingness in the OSS context. A theoretical model was developed to scrutinize the connection between motivations and belongingness, and this model was applied to data collected from the Linux Kernel developer community, utilizing structural equation modeling techniques, moderation analysis, and cluster analysis. The discoveries initiated a series of follow-up studies examining the sense of belonging within software development teams at a technology company. These investigations delved deeper into additional factors linked to belongingness and endeavors to strengthen this sense of belonging.

Bianca Trinkenreich
Post Doctoral Scholar, Oregon State University

Bianca is a Postdoctoral Scholar with expertise in the intersection of Software Engineering (SE) and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). Her interdisciplinary research focuses on sustainability within software engineering teams, exploring areas such as Diversity & Inclusion, Technostress, Developer Productivity, and Experience. She specializes in Human Aspects of Software Engineering, Empirical Software Engineering, and Mining Software Repositories techniques. Bianca has gained significant recognition in her field, serving as the first author of papers published in esteemed venues including ICSE, ESEM, CSCW, IST, TSE, and TOSEM. Her contributions have earned her accolades such as the Distinguished Paper Award at ICSE Technical Track 2023, the Best Paper Award at ICSE SEIS 2022, and an Honored Mention Award at CSCW 2020, among others. Beyond academia, Bianca is a member of the Steering Committee for the Linux Foundation Software Developer Diversity and Inclusion initiative. With two decades of experience in the IT industry before her research career, Bianca possesses a unique ability to bridge the gap between academia and industry.