Google Summer of Code: Student Motivations and Contributions
This research addresses the motivations of students in open-source engagement programs, providing empirical insights for program organizers and mentors, though it is incremental as it builds on existing studies of such programs.
The study investigated why students join the Google Summer of Code program, finding that they primarily seek enriching experiences like work experience and resume enhancement, rather than becoming frequent open-source contributors, with stipends being an important but not sole motivator.
Several open source software (OSS) projects expect to foster newcomers' onboarding and to receive contributions by participating in engagement programs, like Summers of Code. However, there is little empirical evidence showing why students join such programs. In this paper, we study the well-established Google Summer of Code (GSoC), which is a 3-month OSS engagement program that offers stipends and mentors to students willing to contribute to OSS projects. We combined a survey (students and mentors) and interviews (students) to understand what motivates students to enter GSoC. Our results show that students enter GSoC for an enriching experience, not necessarily to become frequent contributors. Our data suggest that, while the stipends are an important motivator, the students participate for work experience and the ability to attach the name of the supporting organization to their resumés. We also discuss practical implications for students, mentors, OSS projects, and Summer of Code programs.