Bridging the Gap: A Data-Driven Analysis of How Traditional Software Engineering Productivity Metrics Overlook Women’s Performance
Lorena M. V. Seabra, Pamela T. L. Bezerra · 2025
Traditional productivity metrics in software engineering, such as lines of code, commits, and task duration, often fail to capture essential subjective factors like collaboration and well-being. This gap disproportionately affects women, who face additional challenges including gender bias, microaggressions, and double workload. Based on a survey with 85 female software engineers in Brazil, this study analyzes how these challenges impact performance and reveals that conventional metrics undervalue women’s contributions. The findings highlight the need for a more inclusive framework that recognizes both technical and non-technical work.