research-article

Understanding and Supporting Neurodiverse Software Developers in Agile Teams

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Aline LacerdaAuthors Info & Claims

SBES '23: Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering

Pages 497 - 502

https://doi.org/10.1145/3613372.3613384

Published: 25 September 2023 Publication History

Abstract

The software development industry is gradually fostering diversity within its workforce. Recognizing that diverse teams often produce superior results, companies are increasingly committing to creating more inclusive environments. Diversity encompasses many dimensions such as gender, race/ethnicity, age, nationality, and neurodiversity. While gender has been the most extensively addressed dimension in software engineering research, the focus on neurodiversity has been primarily directed towards users, rather than developers. Developers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) face unique challenges due to difficulties with executive functions, the cognitive processes essential for behavioral control. These processes include skills such as inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and planning, all of which are vital for effective teamwork and job performance. In this pilot study, we attempt to fill the existing knowledge gap about neurodiverse software developers. Using a socio-technical grounded theory approach, we investigate the challenges these developers face and explore how adjustments to agile team practices could enhance their comfort. The emergent results from this study present promising insights and implications for research about neurodiverse software developers, contributing to a more inclusive and productive workplace environment.

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da Rocha Tde Souza CTeran LMota M(2024)Effective Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Software Development TeamsProceedings of the 18th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement10.1145/3674805.3690749(447-453)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2024
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Schenkenfelder BBrandstätter UFischer LRamler RLaister DHartl MWurm M(2024)Responsible AI Engineering: The Case of an Inclusive Image Annotation Team in a Global Technology CompanyProceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Responsible AI Engineering10.1145/3643691.3648583(8-15)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2024
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Index Terms

Understanding and Supporting Neurodiverse Software Developers in Agile Teams
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing

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SBES '23: Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering

September 2023

570 pages

ISBN:9798400707872

DOI:10.1145/3613372

Copyright © 2023 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 25 September 2023

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SBES 2023

SBES 2023: XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering

September 25 - 29, 2023

Campo Grande, Brazil

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Overall Acceptance Rate 147 of 427 submissions, 34%

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Cited By

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3721488.3721840
da Rocha Tde Souza CTeran LMota M(2024)Effective Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Software Development TeamsProceedings of the 18th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement10.1145/3674805.3690749(447-453)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3674805.3690749
Schenkenfelder BBrandstätter UFischer LRamler RLaister DHartl MWurm M(2024)Responsible AI Engineering: The Case of an Inclusive Image Annotation Team in a Global Technology CompanyProceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Responsible AI Engineering10.1145/3643691.3648583(8-15)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643691.3648583
Liebel GLanglois NGama KRoychoudhury PPaiva AAbreu RStorey MSharif BXia X(2024)Challenges, Strengths, and Strategies of Software Engineers with ADHD: A Case StudyProceedings of the 46th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Society10.1145/3639475.3640107(57-68)Online publication date: 14-Apr-2024
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Hoda RHoda R(2024)Socio-Technical Grounded Theory: An OverviewQualitative Research with Socio-Technical Grounded Theory10.1007/978-3-031-60533-8_3(37-57)Online publication date: 10-Jun-2024
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Hoda RHoda R(2024)Theory DevelopmentQualitative Research with Socio-Technical Grounded Theory10.1007/978-3-031-60533-8_12(287-330)Online publication date: 10-Jun-2024
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