Autonomy in Software Engineering: A Preliminary Study on the Influence of Education Level and Professional Experience

Abstract

Context: Software development process is executed by professionals with different roles, who are responsible for distinct activities. These roles can have different degrees of autonomy depending on some factors, such as the adopted process and hierarchy. Goal: This study aims to identify what factors can impact autonomy and also investigate how autonomy is given to an employee based on two main factors: education level and professional experience. Methodology: Initially, a survey was carried out to understand how autonomy is perceived by 102 software engineers, as well as by 83 professionals from other areas. The next step was applying semi-structured interviews with software engineers to find a better understanding of the quantitative findings. Results: In general, education level and professional experience do not have an impact on autonomy. Only when autonomy is evaluated from the education level perspective, there is a significant difference among the respondents. During the interviews, we also could identify some topics that respondents mentioned which were related to autonomy. For example, the experience that software engineer has in a current project and the development process adopted by the company influence how autonomy is perceived. Conclusion: While professional qualification and experience are not directly related to autonomy, the lack of process and the amount of work experience on specific projects seem to be relevant factors to be aware of.