Social Aspects of Software Testing: Comparative Studies in Asia

TL;DR

This study explores the motivations and perceptions of software testing careers among students in China, India, and Malaysia, revealing regional differences and emphasizing the importance of human factors in testing roles.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of student attitudes towards software testing in three Asian countries using survey data, highlighting factors influencing career choices.

Findings

Malaysian students show more positive attitudes towards testing.

Students in China and India are less interested in testing careers.

Human-dependent nature of testing activities impacts student perceptions.

Abstract

This study attempts to understand motivators and de-motivators that influence the decisions of software students to take up and sustain software testing careers across three different Asian countries, i.e., China, India, and Malaysia. The re-search question can be framed as How many software students across different Asian geographies are keen to take up testing careers, and what are the reasons for their choices? Towards an answer, we developed a cross-sectional but simple survey-based instrument. In this work, we investigated how software students perceived the software testing role. The results from China and India revealed that students are not very keen on taking up a software tester career, but the Malaysia students show a more positive attitude towards software testing. The study also pointed out the importance of considering software testing activities as a set of human-dependent tasks and emphasized the need for further re-search that examines critically individual assessments of software testers about software testing activities. This investigation can academics involved in software testing courses to understand the impacting factors on the motivation and de-motivators of their students, as well as to try convey positive view of testing as challenging and requires critical thinking and innovative ideas.