As a first step toward learning more about OSS culture and women’s participation in it, this annotated bibliography briefly describes current research organized into five topics: Gender Dimensions, Entry & Internal Advancement, Knowledge Acquisition, Membership and Organization, and Motivations & Intentions to Participate. This bibliography identifies pertinent articles and offers a brief summary of what are, in many cases, extensive research findings, only two of which focus on gender and OSS. The original publications should be consulted for full details.

Changing the culture of an organization to one that promotes women’s participation in computing requires that members reach new understandings and act in new ways. Enlisting allies in this process requires persuasive communication. This resource provides guidance on the four distinct and necessary steps for the long-term process of effective persuasion.

Institutional barriers (IBs) are policies, procedures, or situations that systematically disadvantage certain groups of people. IBs exist in any majority-minority group situation. When an initial population is fairly similar (e.g., in male-dominated professions), systems naturally emerge to meet the needs of this population. If these systems do not change with the times, they can inhibit the success of new members with different needs. IBs often seem natural or “just the way things are around here.”

Whether or not an organization will fully benefit from diversity depends on how its members answer the questions, “What do we do with this diversity? Why do we want a diversified workforce?” Organizations must explicitly address these questions if they are to prevent diversity efforts from backfiring and if they are to reap the oft-touted benefits of better performance and productivity. Three organizational diversity paradigms are presented along with the assumptions and practices, pros, and cons of each.

This workbook presents guidelines for strategic planning to reach gender parity in technology companies or departments. Key components include: A Blueprint for Sustained Increases in Women’s Participation; Create Your Strategic Plan Using the NCWIT IT Industry Reform Model; Lay the Foundation with Top Leadership Support, Institutional Accountability, and Supervisory Relationships; Build the Ecosystem; Evaluation.