Perspectives on the Gap Between the Software Industry and the Software Engineering Education

Abstract

The gap between the software industry and software engineering education was first mentioned three decades ago, in 1989. Since then, its existence has been regularly reported on and solutions to close it have been proposed. However, after thirty years this gap resists all efforts for closure. In this study we assert that the gap between industry and academia exists for several reasons that are related and intertwined. To take a broader look at the problem from the perspective of all related entities, we (i) provide a detailed overview of the profession and identify the entities, (ii) extract the causes that stem from these entities and discuss what each entity should do, (iii) report and analyze the results of a questionnaire that has been conducted with students and recent graduates, (iv) emphasize the highlights of the interviews conducted with students, recent graduates and academics, (v) and compile a list of skills that are sought by the industry by analyzing the software engineering job advertisements. We further contribute to finding solutions by considering all entities involved, which provides an opportunity to access all of them, so that each can find out what they can do to acknowledge and narrow the gap. Our study concludes that the gap requires constant attention and hard work for all of the entities involved, and therefore all should be on the lookout for new technologies, learn to embrace the changes and adapt to them, so that the gap is kept at a minimum.