Teamwork in agile software development: A mixed-method study of gender diversity and collaboration dynamics

IF 4.3 2区计算机科学 Q2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Information and Software Technology Pub Date : 2025-07-28 DOI:10.1016/j.infsof.2025.107840

Viktoria Stray , Idunn Stabell , Gyda Elisa Sæter , Astri Barbala , Yngve Lindsjørn

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Context:

Teamwork is an important aspect of agile software development, and the widespread adoption of agile methodologies emphasizes the need for educational approaches that prepare students for effective teamwork. Capstone courses in agile software engineering provide a valuable setting for students to experience collaborative work. However, the dynamics within these teams, particularly regarding gender, require further exploration.

Objectives:

This study examines teamwork experiences in an agile capstone course focusing on how team gender composition affects role distribution, teamwork quality, and gender bias.

Methods:

This study involved 94 teams comprising 561 students over two years (213 women and 348 men). We employed a mixed-methods approach, using four surveys (806 responses) and 12 in-depth interviews to capture ambition level, satisfaction with agile practices, and gender differences.

Results:

Team gender composition significantly impacted teamwork quality (TWQ), with female-dominated but gender-diverse teams showing the highest TWQ scores. Interestingly, women in token positions in male-majority teams reported unexpectedly high satisfaction levels, challenging aspects of Kanter’s tokenism theory. However, women were more likely to report that team members underestimated their competence, particularly in male-majority teams. Observed gender differences included a tendency for women to engage more in design and process-oriented tasks, while men predominantly focused on programming and technical aspects such as architecture and algorithms.

Conclusion:

This study underscores the importance of considering team composition in relation to gender in agile teams, as we found this aspect greatly impacts team dynamics. Further, the implementation of agile practices in capstone courses yielded high overall TWQ scores, indicating significant educational value. Our findings provide insights for both software engineering education and agile practitioners.

查看原文本刊更多论文

敏捷软件开发中的团队合作：性别多样性和协作动态的混合方法研究

背景：团队合作是敏捷软件开发的一个重要方面，敏捷方法的广泛采用强调了教育方法的必要性，这些方法可以帮助学生为有效的团队合作做好准备。敏捷软件工程的顶点课程为学生体验协作工作提供了一个有价值的环境。但是，这些小组内部的动态，特别是关于性别的动态，需要进一步探讨。目的：本研究考察了敏捷顶点课程中的团队合作经验，重点关注团队性别构成如何影响角色分配、团队质量和性别偏见。方法：本研究涉及94个小组，包括561名学生，为期两年（213名女性和348名男性）。我们采用了混合方法，使用了四项调查（806份回复）和12次深度访谈来捕捉目标水平、对敏捷实践的满意度和性别差异。结果：团队性别构成显著影响团队素质（TWQ），以女性为主但性别多元化的团队TWQ得分最高。有趣的是，在男性占多数的团队中，担任象征性职位的女性的满意度出乎意料地高，这对坎特的象征性理论提出了挑战。然而，女性更有可能报告说，团队成员低估了她们的能力，尤其是在男性占多数的团队中。观察到的性别差异包括女性倾向于更多地参与设计和面向过程的任务，而男性则主要专注于编程和技术方面，如架构和算法。结论：本研究强调了在敏捷团队中考虑与性别相关的团队组成的重要性，因为我们发现这方面极大地影响了团队动态。此外，在顶点课程中实施敏捷实践产生了很高的TWQ总分，表明了显著的教育价值。我们的发现为软件工程教育和敏捷实践者提供了见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information and Software Technology 工程技术-计算机：软件工程

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

7.70%

发文量

164

审稿时长

9.6 weeks

期刊介绍： Information and Software Technology is the international archival journal focusing on research and experience that contributes to the improvement of software development practices. The journal''s scope includes methods and techniques to better engineer software and manage its development. Articles submitted for review should have a clear component of software engineering or address ways to improve the engineering and management of software development. Areas covered by the journal include: • Software management, quality and metrics, • Software processes, • Software architecture, modelling, specification, design and programming • Functional and non-functional software requirements • Software testing and verification & validation • Empirical studies of all aspects of engineering and managing software development Short Communications is a new section dedicated to short papers addressing new ideas, controversial opinions, "Negative" results and much more. Read the Guide for authors for more information. The journal encourages and welcomes submissions of systematic literature studies (reviews and maps) within the scope of the journal. Information and Software Technology is the premiere outlet for systematic literature studies in software engineering.