Title: An OSS-ential Understanding of Potential and Early Career OSS Contributors
Abstract: Open source software (OSS) underpins modern digital infrastructure globally, yet its contributor base is strikingly homogeneous. OSS is dominated by White men from Europe and North America, with only 10% of contributors being women and an underrepresentation of Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and multiracial contributors. Furthermore, while younger contributors continue to join OSS, they aren’t advancing to maintainership roles, raising concerns for the future of software maintenance. Diversity is critical for effective OSS, as non-diverse projects risk exclusionary outcomes, sustainability issues, and the erosion of community health. The aging OSS maintainer pool, coupled with a lack of diverse representation, threatens OSS sustainability and longevity. Understanding younger contributors is crucial—tracking their entry, engagement, and barriers to leadership could enhance diversity. Exploring their AI tool use and concerns about AI's impact on OSS may also reveal opportunities for sustaining OSS and its community. This thesis seeks to develop a richer understanding of potential OSS newcomers, their concerns and experiences, and how their participation evolves over time. I will do so by surveying undergraduate introductory programming students about their awareness of and attitudes towards OSS, and by interviewing OSS educators. This work has implications for OSS sustainability and diversity, for the distribution of OSS benefits among different groups, and for encouraging broader participation in online communities.