[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-82541-en":3,"doc-seo-82541-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},82541,549758146520,"Patrick","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/80002397d8c0411e94?_k=1775819394049821470",8,"Research & Report","The Perception and Impact of Non-inclusive Language in Software Artifacts","Technical terms such as “whitelist/blacklist,” “master/slave,” “man-hours,” and “dummy value” have long appeared in software artifacts including source code, version histories, and documentation, yet recent attention frames them as potentially non-inclusive and unwelcoming to groups historically underrepresented in software development. The study investigates how developers perceive non-inclusive terminology and how it may affect team dynamics, productivity, belonging, and well-being via a survey of open-source contributors (1,517 responses; 1,212 analyzed). Overall negative impact is reported as low, but perceptions vary: women and non-binary participants, as well as respondents in the United States, are more likely to judge terms as non-inclusive, with stronger reported impacts on belonging for women.","arXiv :2607 .00626v 1 [ cs . SE] 1 Jul 2026  \nThe Perception and Impact of Non-inclusive Language  \nin Software Artifacts  \nAhmad J. Tayeba,∗, Mohammad D. Alahmadib  \na Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Computing and Information  \nTechnology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia b Department of Software Engineering, College of Computer Science and Engineering,  \nUniversity of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia  \nAbstract  \nTerminology such as “whitelist/blacklist,”“master/slave,”“man-hours,” or“dummy value” has long been part of the technical vocabulary used in software artifacts, including source code, version histories, and documentation. In recent years, however, many of these expressions have been recognized as potentially non-inclusive and unwelcoming to groups historically underrepresented in software development, such as people of color, women, and individuals with disabilities. Consequently, a growing movement within the software industry has sought to replace these terms with more inclusive alternatives. Despite these initiatives, little is empirically known about how software developers perceive such terminology or how its continued use may influence their professional experiences and sense of belonging.  \nThis paper addresses the knowledge gap by examining how software developers perceive non-inclusive terminology in software and its perceived impact on team dynamics, productivity, belonging, and well-being. We surveyed open-source contributors and received 1,517 responses, of which 1,212 were complete and analyzed. On average, respondents reported low negative workplace impact overall; however, perceptions and impacts varied by demographic group. Women and non-binary participants, as well as respondents residing in the United States, were more likely to view the terms as non-inclusive. Among those who considered the terminology non-inclusive,  \n∗ Ahmad J. Tayeb  \nEmail addresses: [ajtayeb@kau.edu.sa](ajtayeb@kau.edu.sa) (Ahmad J. Tayeb), [mdalahmadi@uj.edu.sa](mdalahmadi@uj.edu.sa)[ ](mdalahmadi@uj.edu.sa)(Mohammad D. Alahmadi)  \nPreprint submitted to Journal of Systems and Software, June 2026  \nnon-binary participants reported higher overall negative impacts than male respondents, and female participants reported higher impact specifically on their sense of belonging.  \nKeywords: diversity, inclusion, teams, software terminology  \n1. Introduction  \nTeam diversity in the workplace has been associated with positive outcomes such as improved problem solving, better product design, and greater creativity and innovation, especially when the tasks addressed are complex and the individuals in the team possess a wide range of knowledge, skills, experiences, and backgrounds [11, 10, 41, 56] . In software development, diverse teams have been linked to increased team performance and productivity [54, 39] . However, the relationship is nuanced: while knowledge diversity has been associated with performance benefits through constructive task conflict, value diversity may increase relationship conflict and adversely affect team performance [36] .  \nNonetheless, the software development field is known to struggle with a lack of diversity in its labor force in many countries around the world. For example, in 2021, in the European Union, women made up only 19% of the employees in information and communication technology, including software development [8] . In the United States, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics [5] show that in 2021, only 20% of software developers and computer programmers were women, 5.5% were Black or African American, and 6% were Hispanic or Latino. This is in sharp contrast to the percentages of these groups in the general population of the US, where women, Black or African American, and Hispanic and Latino people represent 51%, 14%, and 19% of the population, respectively [2] . In contrast, 57% of software developers and computer programmers were white (a.k.a. Caucasian, of Euro","cbCaimhaBUN813kf","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimhaBUN813kf","pdf",7673995,4,1,49,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Diversity and inclusion context in software development\n## Non-inclusive terminology in software artifacts\n## Prior deprecations in major software ecosystems","[{\"question\":\"What non-inclusive terminology is examined in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"The paper focuses on common software artifact terms such as “whitelist/blacklist,” “master/slave,” “man-hours,” and “dummy value,” which have been criticized as potentially non-inclusive and unwelcoming.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the study conducted and how many responses were analyzed?\",\"answer\":\"The authors surveyed open-source contributors and collected 1,517 responses, with 1,212 complete responses analyzed.\"},{\"question\":\"Do developers report negative workplace impact from these terms?\",\"answer\":\"Respondents reported low overall negative workplace impact on average, but the perceived impact differed by demographic group, including stronger effects for women and non-binary participants on 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