Be a Partner, not a Bystander in Software Engineering Practice: Bridging the Gaps between Academia and Industry

TL;DR

This paper advocates for a stronger, more collaborative relationship between academia and industry in software engineering, especially amid AI advancements, supported by empirical survey data.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence of the current disconnect and proposes reforms to foster better collaboration between research and industry practices.

Findings

Survey responses highlight gaps between academia and industry.

Empirical evidence supports the need for reforms in SE.

Proposes calls for action to bridge the collaboration gap.

Abstract

Software engineering conferences bring together thousands of academicians and software practitioners so that academic research and professional practices can influence each other. In essence, a symbiotic relationship exists between the research community and the software industry, which must be maintained, nurtured and re-examined periodically. Given the major AI breakthroughs (e.g., LLMs) and large-scale adoption of AI by the software industry, a re-examination of the relationship between academia and the SE industry is highly warranted. In this position paper, we argue that the software engineering community is deeply concerned about its research impact and relevance to industry practices. By conducting an empirical study using the survey responses from the SE community, we not only provide compelling evidence supporting our position but also propose new calls for action and reforms in SE, and thus envision a new future for the software engineering community.