3 Methods
Astropy is aware of the need to improve the conditions that facilitate a diverse, empowered community and is developing a path forward. As part of this effort, we interviewed eight Astropy community members, with six of these interviews focused exclusively on perceptions of Astropy’s current state as well as what might be done to improve DEI outcomes. We oriented two of the interviews toward possible improvements to the Code of Conduct because these participants are actively engaged in ongoing CoC content and process revisions; furthermore, CoCs play an important role in shaping DEI outcomes in projects. To contextualize the conversation and be precise about what drives DEI outcomes in the Astropy community, we asked interviewees about their perception of the state of DEI at four levels: in astronomy, in computing, in open source software, and in the Astropy community.
We also asked direct questions about how Astropy could direct its human and financial capital towards initiatives to create a more diverse, inclusive environment. Specifically, we asked respondents how leadership can use its influence to improve DEI outcomes in the community and how Astropy resources might be used to create events, materials, mentorships and other products in its DEI efforts.
Our interviews also built on what we learned from the Community Survey, about the importance of first-time contributions, the need to create robust and traversable user-to-contributor pathways, and the value of a welcoming environment in broadening participation. Some of our questions asked directly about participants’ experiences in moving from user to contributor (or not) and in helping others to do the same.
The full interview protocol can be found in Appendix A: Interview Questions for DEI Respondents.
We recorded our 60-minute videoconference interviews and transcribed the conversations into text. We then analyzed the transcripts using standard qualitative data analysis techniques, which aim to identify and explore themes that were common across participants and insights that were novel and valuable, even when only one participant mentioned them. We put these findings into conversation with existing DEI guidance documents, the results of the Community Survey, and ongoing discussions with the Astropy community manager to present the themes and offer recommendations.
Where possible, we included excerpts from the interviews to illustrate themes in community member responses. In many cases, responses were too identifiable and/or too sensitive to include here. The excerpts that are inlcuded in this report are de-identified and anonymized, with minor details obscured to protect the identity of the respondent.