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Track Talk W1

Breaking Test Stereotypes: Who is testing and why it matters

Isabel Evans

10:30 - 11:15 CEST Wednesday 4th June

Who is testing? What are their backgrounds, experiences, training, and readiness for this role? I made a qualitative study of testers from multiple countries, working in many domains, with information about their backgrounds, hobbies, roles and characteristics. People who test come from many backgrounds and sometimes have surprising earlier careers and interests. Their roles in software projects are multi-faceted, requiring a high cognitive skill level, yet the activity of software testing is sometimes stereotyped as boring and easy; potentially replaceable by tools or AI. Breaking stereotyping, better supporting diversity in testers’ backgrounds and characteristics, might encourage changes in recruitment, on-boarding, approaches, tool support and attitudes to the testing activity.