Advancing Evidence-Based Social Sustainability in Software Engineering: A Research Roadmap
Abstract
Social sustainability in software development means creating and maintaining systems that promote pro-social values (e.g., human well-being, equity), both now and in the future. However, social sustainability lacks clear conceptual and methodological foundations, and often takes a back seat to speed and profit. This paper therefore reports a narrative review of existing definitions of social sustainability in software development and identifies key aspects of social sustainability including social equity, well-being, and community cohesion. Challenges around measuring and integrating social sustainability into practice are conceptually analyzed. The paper then proposes a comprehensive definition of social sustainability and outlines a roadmap for measuring and integrating social sustainability into software engineering processes.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2603.27735,
title = {Advancing Evidence-Based Social Sustainability in Software Engineering: A Research Roadmap},
author = {Bimpe Ayoola and Anielle Andrade and Ronnie de Souza Santos and Paul Ralph},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.27735},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
4 pages, 1 page references. Accepted at FSE 2026 (Ideas, Visions and Reflections track)