Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Empathy, self-determination and motivation: moderating diversity for enhanced performance in software development teams

  • Published:
Empirical Software Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research suggests that diversity in software teams can potentially lead to higher team performance. In practice, while diverse teams benefit from varying perspectives and higher creativity and productivity, they are also at a greater risk of inter-team conflict and challenges in resolving differences especially in contexts of uncertainty typical to many software projects. In this paper we report empirical evidence and propose a framework that explains moderating factors that support the relationship between team diversity and performance in software development teams. We studied six heterogeneous, student-development teams in 4-month long, community-driven projects with realistic constraints, timelines and stakeholder management experiences. We report the diversity in the project teams in terms of educational background, gender and cultural backgrounds, and examine team member satisfaction and client satisfaction to understand team performance. Our results indicate that previously established factors such as task complexity, as well as emergent factors such as the ability to gain practical skills, manage emotions, and overcome hardship potentially help to moderate the relationship between the diversity and performance of the teams in our study. Additionally we find that the role of an underlying concept, empathy appears central in the moderation of diversity and performance. We use self-determination theory to explain how the emergent moderating factors we identify can create a sense of autonomy, relatedness and competence in software teams. Our findings do not explain the relationship between team diversity and team performance in its entirety, or with absolute certainty. However, they enhance the understanding of diversity-performance link in software development, offering insights for software engineering education, research, and practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The raw qualitative data consisting of interview transcripts, focus group transcripts, and participant reflections is not publicly available as participant confidentiality must be protected according to our Human Research Ethics (HRE) approval at the University of Victoria. However, we have made the codes used for qualitative analysis public as shared in Section 3 for similar research.

Notes

  1. https://inspireuvic.org/

  2. ’Women+’ refers to any individual identifying as a woman to be inclusive of those who are transgender, intersex, non-binary, etc. (Panchuk et al. 2022)

  3. https://rb.gy/c0p652

  4. https://rb.gy/c0p652

References

  • Albusays K, Bjorn P, Dabbish L, Ford D, Murphy-Hill E, Serebrenik A, Storey MA (2021) The diversity crisis in software development. IEEE Softw 38(2):19–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amason AC, Schweiger DM (1994) Resolving the paradox of conflict, strategic decision making, and organizational performance. Int J Confl Manag

  • Bell ST, Villado AJ, Lukasik MA, Belau L, Briggs AL (2011) Getting specific about demographic diversity variable and team performance relationships: a meta-analysis. J Manag 37(3):709–743

    Google Scholar 

  • Berscheid E, Snyder M, Omoto AM (1989) The relationship closeness inventory: assessing the closeness of interpersonal relationships. J Pers Soc Psychol 57(5):792

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Braun V, Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol 3(2):77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

  • Bresman H, Edmondson A (2022a) Research: to excel, diverse teams need psychological safety. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/03/research-to-excel-diverse-teams-need-psychological-safety

  • Bresman H, Edmondson AC (2022b) Exploring the relationship between team diversity, psychological safety and team performance: evidence from pharmaceutical drug development. Tech. rep., Harvard Business School Working Paper

  • Cao X, Chen L (2019) Relationships among social support, empathy, resilience and work engagement in haemodialysis nurses. Int Nurs Rev 66(3):366–373

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Chen X (2009) Students who study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) in postsecondary education. stats in brief. nces 2009-161. National Center for Education Statistics

  • Chen X (2013) Stem attrition: college students’ paths into and out of stem fields. statistical analysis report. nces 2014-001. National Center for Education Statistics

  • Compeau D, Marcolin B, Kelley H, Higgins C (2012) Research commentary—generalizability of information systems research using student subjects—a reflection on our practices and recommendations for future research. Inf Syst Res 23(4):1093–1109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costanza-Chock S (2020) Design justice: community-led practices to build the worlds we need. The MIT Press

  • Filippova A, Trainer E, Herbsleb JD (2017) From diversity by numbers to diversity as process: supporting inclusiveness in software development teams with brainstorming. In: 2017 IEEE/ACM 39th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE). IEEE, Buenos Aires, pp 152–163. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSE.2017.22, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7985658/

  • França C, Da Silva FQ, Sharp H (2018) Motivation and satisfaction of software engineers. IEEE Trans Software Eng 46(2):118–140

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Ganta VC (2014) Motivation in the workplace to improve the employee performance. Int J Eng Technol Management Appl Sci 2(6):221–230

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Gasparini A (2015) Perspective and use of empathy in design thinking. In: ACHI, the eight international conference on advances in computer-human interactions, pp 49–54

  • Glass C, Minnotte KL (2010) Recruiting and hiring women in stem fields. J Divers High Educ 3(4):218

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Hall T, Sharp H, Beecham S, Baddoo N, Robinson H (2008) What do we know about developer motivation? IEEE Softw 25(4):92–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hattery AJ, Smith E, Magnuson S, Monterrosa A, Kafonek K, Shaw C, Mhonde RD, Kanewske LC (2022) Diversity, equity, and inclusion in research teams: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Race and Justice 12(3):505–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes MA, O’connell S, Frey C, Ongley L (2008) Gender imbalance in us geoscience academia. Nat Geosci 1(2):79–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoogendoorn S, Van Praag M (2012) Ethnic diversity and team performance: a field experiment. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper

  • Hoogendoorn S, Oosterbeek H, Van Praag M (2013) The impact of gender diversity on the performance of business teams: evidence from a field experiment. Manage Sci 59(7):1514–1528

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Horwitz SK (2005) The compositional impact of team diversity on performance: theoretical considerations. Hum Resour Dev Rev 4(2):219–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484305275847

  • Horwitz SK, Horwitz IB (2007) The effects of team diversity on team outcomes: a meta-analytic review of team demography. J Manag 33(6):987–1015

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson S (1992) Team composition in organizations. s. worchel, w. wood, and j. simpson, eds. group process and productivity

  • Jackson SE, Joshi A, Erhardt NL (2003) Recent research on team and organizational diversity: Swot analysis and implications. J Manag 29(6):801–830

    Google Scholar 

  • Joshi A, Neely BH (2018) A structural-emergence model of diversity in teams. Annu Rev Organ Psych Organ Behav 5:361–385

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Kanij T, Grundy J, McIntosh J, Sarma A, Aniruddha G (2022) A new approach towards ensuring gender inclusive se job advertisements. In: 2022 IEEE/ACM 44th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Society (ICSE-SEIS). IEEE, pp 1–11

  • Kanter RM (1983) The change masters new york–simon and schuster. KanterThe Change Masters1983

  • Kautz K (2010) Participatory design activities and agile software development. In: Human benefit through the diffusion of information systems design science research: IFIP WG 8.2/8.6 International Working Conference, Perth, Australia, March 30–April 1, 2010, Proceedings. Springer, pp 303–316

  • Khakurel J, Porras J (2020) The effect of real-world capstone project in an acquisition of soft skills among software engineering students. In: 2020 IEEE 32nd Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE &T). IEEE, pp 1–9

  • Köppen E, Meinel C (2014) Empathy via design thinking: creation of sense and knowledge. In: Design thinking research: building innovators. Springer, pp 15–28

  • Liang TP, Liu CC, Lin TM, Lin B (2007) Effect of team diversity on software project performance. Ind Manag Data Syst 107(5):636–653

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Little D, Dam L (1998) Learner autonomy: what and why? Language Teacher-Kyoto-Jalt- 22:7–8

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Liu XZ (2016) Minorities in tech: disparities and explanations. Placeholder J

  • Locke EA, Latham GP (1990) Work motivation and satisfaction: light at the end of the tunnel. Psychol Sci 1(4):240–246

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Mannix E, Neale MA (2005) What differences make a difference? the promise and reality of diverse teams in organizations. Psychol Sci Public Int 6(2):31–55

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • McDonagh D, Thomas J (2010) Rethinking design thinking: empathy supporting innovation. Australasian Med J 3(8):458–464

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Miller C, Cohen S, Klug D, Vasilescu B, Kästner C (2022) “did you miss my comment or what?” understanding toxicity in open source discussions. In: In 44th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE’22)

  • Nadri R, Rodríguez-Pérez G, Nagappan M (2021) On the relationship between the developer’s perceptible race and ethnicity and the evaluation of contributions in oss. IEEE Trans Software Eng 48(8):2955–2968

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson JL, Johnson TD (2023) How white workers navigate racial difference in the workplace: social-emotional processes and the role of workplace racial composition. Work and Occupations, p 07308884231176833

  • Nemeth CJ (1986) Differential contributions of majority and minority influence. Psychol Rev 93(1):23

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Nowell LS, Norris JM, White DE, Moules NJ (2017) Thematic analysis: striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. Int J Qual Methods 16(1):1609406917733847. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847. SAGE Publications Inc

  • Panchuk K, Hart C, Lewchuk DR (2022) Women+ and intimate partner violence in rural, remote and northern communities. Canadian Perspectives, Rural and Northern Social Work Practice

    Google Scholar 

  • Patrício L, Franco M (2022) A systematic literature review about team diversity and team performance: future lines of investigation. Adm Sci 12(1):31

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Pavett CM (1983) Evaluation of the impact of feedback on performance and motivation. Human Relations 36(7):641–654

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Roller MR, Lavrakas PJ (2015) Applied qualitative research design: a total quality framework approach. Guilford Publications

  • Ryan RM, Deci EL (2017) Self-determination theory. Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness

  • Sharp H, Baddoo N, Beecham S, Hall T, Robinson H (2009) Models of motivation in software engineering. Inf Softw Technol 51(1):219–233

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Stahl GK, Maznevski ML, Voigt A, Jonsen K (2010) Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: a meta-analysis of research on multicultural work groups. J Int Bus Stud 41:690–709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart GL, Barrick MR (2000) Team structure and performance: assessing the mediating role of intrateam process and the moderating role of task type. Acad Manag J 43(2):135–148

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Tourani P, Adams B, Serebrenik A (2017) Code of conduct in open source projects. In: 2017 IEEE 24th international conference on software analysis, evolution and reengineering (SANER). IEEE, pp 24–33

  • Van Knippenberg D, Nishii LH, Dwertmann DJ (2020) Synergy from diversity: managing team diversity to enhance performance. Behav Sci Polic 6(1):75–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verwijs C, Russo D (2023) The double-edged sword of diversity: how diversity, conflict, and psychological safety impact software teams. EEE Trans Softw Eng

  • Walker EL, Slotterbeck OA (2002) Incorporating realistic teamwork into a small college software engineering curriculum. J Comput Sci Coll 17(6):115–123

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Weber K, Patterson BR (2000) Student interest, empowerment and motivation. Commun Res Rep 17(1):22–29

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Weisz E, Ong DC, Carlson RW, Zaki J (2021) Building empathy through motivation-based interventions. Emotion 21(5):990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams K, O’Reilly C (1998) The complexity of diversity: a review of forty years of research. Res Organ Behav 21:77–140

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Wolbring G, Nguyen A (2023) Equity/equality, diversity and inclusion, and other edi phrases and edi policy frameworks: a scoping review. Trends in Higher Education 2(1):168–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaina LA, Álvaro A (2015) A design methodology for user-centered innovation in the software development area. J Syst Softw 110:155–177

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge our industry sponsors and partners. In addition we acknowledge the program and the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science at our local university. Finally, we thank all the students who participated in our program and research for their hard work, resilience, and determination.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

    Kezia Devathasan, Nowshin Nawar Arony & Daniela Damian

  2. Microsoft, Principal Researcher, Sunnyvale, CA, USA

    Emerson Murphy-Hill

Authors
  1. Kezia Devathasan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nowshin Nawar Arony
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Emerson Murphy-Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Daniela Damian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Kezia Devathasan and Nowshin Nawar Arony. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kezia Devathasan and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kezia Devathasan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Research done towards this manuscript is covered by the Human Research Ethics Board at the University of Victoria. (Application Number: 22-0170).

Informed Consent

All participants in the study consented to the collection and anonymous dissemination of their data for the purposes of this manuscript.

Additional information

Communicated by: Walid Maalej.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Devathasan, K., Arony, N.N., Murphy-Hill, E. et al. Empathy, self-determination and motivation: moderating diversity for enhanced performance in software development teams. Empir Software Eng 30, 82 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10632-2

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10632-2

Keywords