Analysis of Software Engineering Skills Gap in the Industry

Abstract

Many practitioners might struggle with becoming productive in different software engineering (SE) roles due to misalignment of the skills learnt during the university time with what is expected in the industry. Companies spend significant resources to train the personnel, whose academic backgrounds are not only based on “computing disciplines”. Hiring properly trained practitioners allows employers to spend less time while incorporating them more efficiently into the workforce; for employees, knowing the most important skillset is helpful to increase their chance of employability. On the other hand, for academia, understanding the necessary skillset is critical to make curriculum updates. To achieve these objectives, we conducted a survey, which was responded to by 628 software practitioners, who completed their undergraduate degree in Turkey, working in 13 countries. This paper sheds light on the most important (hard and soft) skills in the industry by presenting various cross-factor analyses as well as their coverage in the academic curriculum (mostly in Turkish universities). The results showed that the most important skills are related to various factors such as profiles of the practitioners (e.g., SE role(s), work experience) and the characteristics of the product developed by the practitioner. The findings revealed that both academia and industry should invest in skills improvement: academia can make necessary educational updates according to industrial needs; whereas industry can provide practical experiences to students. By creating the awareness of the expected skillset, both practitioners and academics will benefit from the results, which help close the gaps that can and should be achieved through more Industry Academia Collaborations (IACs).