How Trans-Inclusive are Hackathons?

Abstract

Hackathons are fun! People go there to learn, meet new colleagues, intensively work on a collaborative project, and mix pizza with energy drinks. However, for transgender community and other minorities, hackathons can have an uncomfortable atmosphere. Some transgender and non-conforming people that, although enjoying hackathons, decided not to participate anymore, afraid of LGBQTPhobia and other discomforts. In this paper we surveyed and interviewed 44 transgender seven hackathon participants. By understanding their needs and challenges, we introduce five recommendations to make hackathons more inclusive. ! METHOD SurveyWe set up the survey as an on-line questionnaire with 22 questions, nine of which were open-ended. The survey had