International Comparative Studies on the Software Testing Profession

Abstract

This work attempts to fill a gap by exploring the human dimension in particular, by trying to understand the motivation of software professionals for taking up and sustaining their careers as software testers. Towards that goal, four surveys were conducted in four countries -India, Canada, Cuba, and China -to try to understand how professional software engineers perceive and value work-related factors that could influence their motivation to start or move into software testing careers. From our sample of 220 software professionals, we observed that very few were keen to take up testing careers. Some aspects of software testing, such as the potential for learning opportunities and the importance of the job, appear to be common motivators across the four countries, whereas the treatment of testers as second-class citizens and the complexity of the job appeared to be the most prominent de-motivators.

What Pakistani Computer Science and Software Engineering Students Think about Software Testing?

“…An overwhelming number of respondents picked the option 'No' or "Certainly Not" as responses. These results concur with prior studies [9] [10], which point to the tester role as one of the least popular roles among others, such as project manager, analyst, designer, programmer, and maintenance.…”

Social Aspects of Software Testing: Comparative Studies in Asia

“…Automation also brings in the development element, which may take care of the drawback 'miss development'. Another important thing that industry leaders need to work on is eliminating the feeling of testers of being 'second-class citizens'; although students have not indicated this as a critical issue, professionals have done so [10], understandably because they are working on the environment. If students come to know about this factor, they will further veer away from the testing profession.…”