Political and Ideological Pressure in Software Engineering Research: The Case of DEI Backlash
It highlights a problem for software engineering researchers facing external pressures, but it is incremental as it builds on existing discussions of political influences in research.
The paper examines how political and ideological pressures, particularly DEI backlash, affect software engineering research across macro, meso, and micro levels, and proposes actionable steps for the community to address these issues.
Political and ideological pressures shape global research. Recently, these pressures have become particularly visible in research related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Drastic changes in national funding and governmental guidance, especially in the US, have affected the global software engineering research ecosystem. The impacts of these pressures on research are not always direct, as they operate at multiple levels. However, what is clear is that these pressures affect every field, including software engineering (SE), despite the belief that our field is politically and ideologically neutral. In this position paper, we examine cases of political and ideological pressures on the SE research ecosystem. We investigate the community's perceptions of political and ideological pressures by analyzing community survey responses and outlining case examples of DEI backlash in SE research across three levels: macro, meso, and micro. Our research shows how recent political and ideological pressures have affected SE research across these levels, and, as a result, we propose actionable steps for the community to address these issues at different levels.