The Unpopularity of the Software Tester Role Among Software Practitioners: A Case Study

Abstract

As software systems are becoming more pervasive, they are also becoming more susceptible to failures, resulting in potentially lethal combinations. Software testing is critical to preventing software failures but is, arguably, the least understood part of the software life cycle and the toughest to perform correctly. Adequate research has been carried out in both the process and technology dimensions of testing, but not in the human dimensions. This work attempts to fill in the gap by exploring the human dimension, i.e., trying to understand the motivation/de-motivation of software practitioners to take up and sustain testing careers. One hundred and forty four software practitioners from several Cuban software institutes were surveyed. Individuals were asked the PROs (advantages or motivators) and CONs (disadvantages or de-motivators) of taking up a career in software testing and their chances of doing so. The results of this investigation identified 9 main PROs and 8 main CONs for taking up a testing career showing that the role of tester is perceived as a social role.