A systematic mapping study of diversity in software engineering: a perspective from the agile methodologies

Diversity is being discussed intensively by different knowledge areas. Some studies show that diversity builds better teams, delivers better results, and more. Cognitive diversity is linked to better outcomes, and studies show that cognitive diversity is influenced by identity diversity (e.g., gender, race, age, etc.), mainly when tasks are related to problem-solving and prediction. The discussions about diversity in Software Engineering are increasing as well. There is a known lack of representativeness from some groups when we talk about identity diversity as, for example, gender and race. To support diversity in Software Engineering is valuable and it is especially relevant once we are dealing with problem-solving. In this work, we are interested in understanding how the subject is being conducted in Software Engineering-related research and more specifically, in Agile Methodologies. For that we conducted a Systematic Mapping, so we can have an overview of the research area through classification and counting contributions related to the subject. The outcome is an inventory of papers on how Diversity is being discussed in Software Engineering and Agile Methodologies. We list the most common publication venues, the frequency publication through the years, the main areas in software engineering that are interested in the subject and finally, a first discussion on how Agile Methodologies and their intrinsic characteristics can support better deliveries from more diverse development teams.