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Digital Skill Visibility and Job Promotion of Open Source Software Developers

Sherae Daniel¹; Renzhi Fred Zhao²; Likoebe M. Maruping³

¹ Systems Analytics (United States) · ² Texas State University · ³ Georgia State University

Material to inform the decisions on the job promotion of open source software (OSS) developers is available on platforms. Digital features increase the visibility of OSS developer technical and interpersonal skills. Digital features also make it possible for OSS developers to visibly receive endorsements and recommendations from others about those skills. It is unclear how well the visibility of technical versus interpersonal skills through such digital features facilitates OSS developer job promotions. Leveraging Turner’s contest-sponsored mobility framework [66], we theorize and empirically examine these concerns using a sample of 269 OSS developers. We find that a developer making their technical skills visible on digital platforms is associated with job promotions. In contrast, the visibility of interpersonal skills through recommendations affects job promotions. Our findings contribute to theory and practice by providing a lens to understand the differential effects of technical versus interpersonal skill visibility offered by different digital features and their effect on OSS developer job promotions.

DOI

10.1080/07421222.2025.2520171

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