Introduction
Many organisations are wanting to find out how effective they are at attracting a diverse range of people. The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) promotes open, community focussed projects that are welcoming to all, yet have never collected any information to support this.
The main purpose of this survey was to gather feedback from all existing ASF committers about the current level of diversity. Although there are many aspects to diversity including socio-economic, disability, education etc which may be addressed in a future survey, this initial survey was focussed on three broad areas of age, gender and ethnicity. It also captured information about why people contribute to Apache projects.
IMPORTANT NOTE: All responses to this survey were voluntary and anonymous. There was no obligation for any of the ASF committers to respond.
Responses and Response Frequency
- The survey was open for a total of 14 days (28th November - 11th December 2016)
- A total of 765 responses were recorded (out of a committer base of 5861 at the time that the survey was carried out)
- The majority of responses were recorded during the first day
- A second peak of responses occurred after a survey reminder was sent out close to the end of the survey period.
| Total | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| Responded to the Survey | 765 | 13% |
| Didn't Respond to the Survey | 5096 | 87% |
| Total Committers | 5861 | 100 |
| Date | Number of Responses |
|---|---|
| 28 Nov 16 | 434 |
| 29 Nov 16 | 61 |
| 30 Nov 16 | 37 |
| 1 Dec 16 | 17 |
| 2 Dec 16 | 6 |
| 3 Dec 16 | 6 |
| 4 Dec 16 | 2 |
| 5 Dec 16 | 5 |
| 6 Dec 16 | 3 |
| 7 Dec 16 | 5 |
| 8 Dec 16 | 3 |
| 9 Dec 16 | 140 |
| 10 Dec 16 | 22 |
| 11 Dec 16 | 24 |
| Total | 765 |
Comments
- The survey response percentage was 13% (765 out of 5861)
- How significant is this as an indication of the total committer population?
Survey Questions
Question 1: How long have you been involved with any Apache project community?
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 3 years | 34% | 257 |
| 3 to 5 years | 24% | 184 |
| 5 to 10 years | 25% | 193 |
| Over 10 years | 17% | 131 |
| Prefer not to say | 0% | 0 |
Comments:
- The objective of this question was to find out how long the committer had been involved with the ASF and to see if it remained balanced over time (e.g. Are people joining as ASF as contributors but then not staying?)
- All respondents answered this question
- The largest group of respondents (257) had been with the ASF for less than 3 years.
- The second largest group of respondents (193) had been with the ASF 5 to 10 years,
- The third largest group of respondents (184) had been with the ASF 3 to 5 years
- It is good to see that the largest group are 'newcomers' which seems to indicate that the ASF is attracting them
Question 2: How long have you been a committer on any Apache project?
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 3 years | 50.2% | 384 |
| 3 to 5 years | 21.6% | 165 |
| 5 to 10 years | 19.3% | 148 |
| Over 10 years | 8.8% | 67 |
| Prefer not to say | 0.1% | 1 |
Comments
- The objective of this question was to find out how long the committer had been a committer, and to see if it was inline with the previous question about how long people had been involved with the ASF.
- One person preferred not to respond to this question.
- The largest group of respondents (384) had been a committer for less than 3 years
Question 3: In general, do you contribute to Apache as an individual or as an employee of a company?
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Individual (unemployed) | 2.7% | 21 |
| Individual (retired) | 1.3% | 10 |
| Individual (outside regular job) | 39.5% | 302 |
| Employee | 49.4 | 378 |
| Prefer not to say | 1.8% | 14 |
| Other | 5.2% | 40 |
| Additional Breakdown of 'Other' Category | Number of Responses |
|---|---|
| Both an employee and an individual | 26 |
| Student | 2 |
| Individual Self Employed Contractor / Consultant | 9 |
| Uncategorised | 3 |
| TOTAL | 40 |
Comments
- The objective of this question was to find out in general how and why people are contributing to Apache projects
- Fourteen people preferred not to answer this question
- The largest group of respondents (378) contribute to Apache projects as an Employee, so as part of their employment
- The second largest group of respondents (302) contribute to Apache individually outside their regular employment. This means that they are volunteering their free time to contribute.
Question 4: How would you like to record your gender for the purposes of this survey?
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.2% | 40 |
| Male | 91.9% | 703 |
| Trans female | 0.5% | 4 |
| Trans male | 0% | 0 |
| Gender variant / Non-conforming / Non-binary | 0.8% | 6 |
| Prefer not to say | 1.3% | 10 |
| Not listed (please specify) | 0.3% | 2 |
Comments
- The objective of this question was to get a picture of the gender breakdown / diversity of the Apache committers
- Ten people preferred not to answer this question
- The two not listed responses did not specify a gender and instead commented on the question
- The largest group of respondents (703) were male
Question 5: What is your age range?
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| 24 or younger | 2.6% | 20 |
| 25 to 34 | 35.0% | 268 |
| 35 to 44 | 38.2% | 292 |
| 45 to 54 | 17.1% | 131 |
| 55 to 64 | 4.5% | 34 |
| Over 65 | 1.4% | 11 |
| Prefer not to say | 1.2% | 9 |
Comments
- The objective of this question was to find out the age range of Apache committers and to see if this was balanced
- Nine people preferred not to answer this question
- The largest group of respondents (292) came from 35 to 44 age range
- The second largest group of respondents (268) came from the 25 to 34 age range
- It is also interesting to see that the ASF is also attracting people in the under 24 and over 65 age ranges
Question 6: Which of the following would you use to describe yourself?
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Asian | 23.0% | 176 |
| Black / African | 0.1% | 1 |
| Caucasian / White | 67.1% | 513 |
| Hawaiian / Pacific islander | 0% | 0 |
| Latino / Hispanic | 2.6% | 20 |
| Multi-racial | 1.5% | 11 |
| Prefer not to say | 3.9% | 30 |
| Other (please specify) | 1.8% | 14 |
| Additional Breakdown of 'Other' category | Number of Responses |
|---|---|
| European | 4 |
| Indian | 2 |
| Middle Eastern | 2 |
| Native American | 1 |
| Native American and European | 1 |
| Homo sapiens / Human | 2 |
| Uncategorised | 2 |
Comments
- The objective of this question was to get a picture of the high level ethnic diversity of the Apache committers
- Thirty people preferred not to answer this question
- The largest group of respondents (513) were Caucasian / White
- The second largest group of respondents (176) were Asian
Question 7: How often to you refer to ASF policies, processes or guidelines?
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Never | 6.3% | 48 |
| Rarely (less than once a month) | 54.3% | 415 |
| Sometimes (less than once a week) | 26.0% | 199 |
| Often (once a week or more) | 11.5% | 88 |
| Prefer not to say | 1.3% | 10 |
| Other (please specify) | 0.6% | 5 |
NOTE: 'Other' category included specific comments so could not be broken down further
Comments
- The objective of this question was to find out if the documentation around policies and guidelines were being refered to by committers
- Ten people preferred not to answer this question
- The largest group of respondents (415) said that they rarely referred to ASF processes, policies or guidelines
Question 8: When you need to locate information about ASF processes, policies or guidelines, which of the following describes your experience?
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Information about processes, policies or guidelines is always easy to find | 22.5% | 172 |
| Information about processes, policies or guidelines is sometimes a little difficult to find | 59.5% | 455 |
| Information about processes, policies or guidelines is quite difficult to find | 8.4% | 64 |
| Prefer not to say | 6.9% | 53 |
| None of the above (please specify) | 2.7% | 21 |
| Additional breakdown of 'None of the above (please specify)' category | Number of Responses |
|---|---|
| Never looked | 8 |
| Mixed (sometimes easy, sometimes hard) | 3 |
| Uncategorised | 10 |
Uncategorised included some comments on the following themes
- General use of Google to search
- Get help from other community members to find details
- No standard search engine for ASF documents (e.g Google search on 'Apache' returns 'httpd' related items)
Comments
- The objective of this question was to find out how easy it was to locate information about policies, processes or guidelines
- Fifty-three people preferred not to answer this question
- The largest group of respondents (455) said that sometimes information was a little difficult to find
Question 9: Please use the box below to provide any additional comments or feedback about this survey, diversity at the ASF or the ASF in general
NOTE: This question included a special note requesting permission to quote from any comments made.
| Answer Choices | Percentage | Number of Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Yes - you have my permission to quote from my comments for this question only | 54.9% | 245 |
| No - you do not have my permission to quote from my comments for this question only | 45.1% | 201 |
