# Being perceived as white on GitHub increases odds of contributions being accepted

**URL:** <https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/t/being-perceived-as-white-on-github-increases-odds-of-contributions-being-accepted/631>\
**Category:** 📚 Reading Group\
**Created:** [August 6, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/t/being-perceived-as-white-on-github-increases-odds-of-contributions-being-accepted/631 "2021-08-06T20:10:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ginahelfrich](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.opensourcediversity.org/ginahelfrich/32/279_2.png) [@ginahelfrich](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/u/ginahelfrich)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/t/being-perceived-as-white-on-github-increases-odds-of-contributions-being-accepted/631/1 "2021-08-06T20:10:33Z")

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> **[Want to succeed on GitHub? Your odds are better if you’re white.](https://www.protocol.com/policy/github-race-bias-study)**
>
> A new study finding white developers are more likely to have their contributions accepted on GitHub raises questions about racial bias in open-source software.

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**Author:** ![expoliticaljunkie](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.opensourcediversity.org/expoliticaljunkie/32/414_2.png) [@expoliticaljunkie](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/u/expoliticaljunkie)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/t/being-perceived-as-white-on-github-increases-odds-of-contributions-being-accepted/631/2 "2021-08-06T21:15:46Z")

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That’s not the full story. A lot of people hide their identity on purpose. Sad, but true.

Here’s a 5-year old study that found that women actually had pull requests accepted at a higher rate than men: [https://www.lawrencehecht.info/girls-outperform-boys-drool/](https://www.lawrencehecht.info/girls-outperform-boys-drool/).

Yes, this is gender, not race, but it actually uses the same methodology for identifying people.

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**Author:** ![AfricanWombat443](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.opensourcediversity.org/africanwombat443/32/368_2.png) [@AfricanWombat443](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/u/AfricanWombat443)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/t/being-perceived-as-white-on-github-increases-odds-of-contributions-being-accepted/631/3 "2021-12-11T15:23:53Z")

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Thanks for this, I’m not surprised I wonder if there’s one on usernames as I try to make mine on some platforms neutral to get answers that aren’t condescending\rude. As issues of bullying and privacy resound around disinformation, data thefts, impersonation and targeted ads (where the end user is unaware how the tracking is happening) I realized the other how much I missed ICQ.

I wished it wasn’t the case, but I don’t know how that would be fixed at the moment.

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**Author:** ![Stefanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Stefanie](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/u/Stefanie)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 9:14am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/t/being-perceived-as-white-on-github-increases-odds-of-contributions-being-accepted/631/4 "2021-12-16T09:14:44Z")

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Hi Charles,

you write that you use a gender-neutral username on some platforms to avoid condescending/rude remarks. “Charles” sounds male to me - so are there platforms where you feel discrimated as a man? Or am I missing something?

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**Author:** ![AfricanWombat443](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.opensourcediversity.org/africanwombat443/32/368_2.png) [@AfricanWombat443](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/u/AfricanWombat443)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 11:09am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcediversity.org/t/being-perceived-as-white-on-github-increases-odds-of-contributions-being-accepted/631/5 "2021-12-16T11:09:50Z")

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Re:

"…There is a big caveat with these findings. Many of the most successful contributors hide their gender on their GitHub.

Excluding insiders (e.g., project owners), **women without a tell-tale username** have their pull requests **accepted at a higher rate than men**.

However, when people can identify their gender, men do better.[…] bro-culture and misogyny are likely reasons people are hiding their gender…"

I work in medical robotics, prior to that in solar energy and I’ve witnessed a lot of gender and racial bias in both. I stopped working in Telecoms and IT support because of it was well, but the women I worked with often knew

just as much as I did and clients would try to get a second opinion from a male technician or ask me directly (as the manager).