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  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 4
    Citation - Scopus: 4
    Women's Professional Career and Culture: Software Organizations in India
    (Sage Publications inc, 2022) Mishra, Deepti; Mishra, Sushma; Ostrovska, Sofiya
    In this work, we conduct an investigation on perspectives and existing barriers for women trying to pursue a career in the Indian software industry. The study is focused on three dimensions: organizational policies and practices, workplace environment, and social-familial factors. Another goal is to compare the perception of male and female software professionals concerning the impact of these dimensions on the careers of female software professionals. The study reveals that formally organizations provide gender-neutral policies, and currently the emphasis needs to be placed on their implementation. It has been observed that, on the whole, there is a favorable work environment and unbiased attitude toward female software employees. At the same time, we conclude that, despite significant progress, hurdles - mainly coming from the society and family traditions-still exist restraining flourishing careers of women in the software sector.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 42
    Citation - Scopus: 60
    Impact of Physical Ambiance on Communication, Collaboration and Coordination in Agile Software Development: an Empirical Evaluation
    (Elsevier, 2012) Mishra, Deepti; Mishra, Alok; Ostrovska, Sofiya
    Context: Communication, collaboration and coordination are key enablers of software development and even more so in agile methods. The physical environment of the workspace plays a significant role in effective communication, collaboration, and coordination among people while developing software. Objective: In this paper, we have studied and further evaluated empirically the effect of different constituents of physical environment on communication, coordination, and collaboration, respectively. The study aims to provide a guideline for prospective agile software developers. Method: A survey was conducted among software developers at a software development organization. To collect data, a survey was carried out along with observations, and interviews. Results: It has been found that half cubicles are 'very effective' for the frequency of communication. Further, half cubicles were discovered 'effective' but not 'very effective' for the quality/effectiveness of communication. It is found that half-height cubicles and status boards are 'very effective' for the coordination among team members according to the survey. Communal/discussion space is found to be 'effective' but not 'very effective' for coordination among team members. Our analysis also reveals that half-height glass barriers are 'very effective' during the individuals problem-solving activities while working together as a team. Infact, such a physically open environment appears to improve communication, coordination, and collaboration. Conclusion: According to this study, an open working environment with only half-height glass barriers and communal space plays a major role in communication among team members. The presence of status boards significantly help in reducing unnecessary communication by providing the required information to individuals and therefore, in turn reduce distractions a team member may confront in their absence. As communication plays a significant role in improving coordination and collaboration, it is not surprising to find the effect of open working environment and status boards in improving coordination and collaboration. An open working environment increases the awareness among software developers e.g. who is doing what, what is on the agenda, what is taking place, etc. That in turn, improves coordination among them. A communal/discussion space helps in collaboration immensely. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 11
    Citation - Scopus: 13
    Exploring and Expanding Students' Success in Software Testing
    (Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, 2017) Mishra, Deepti; Ostrovska, Sofiya; Hacaloglu, Tuna
    Purpose - Testing is one of the indispensable activities in software development and is being adopted as an independent course by software engineering (SE) departments at universities worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to carry out an investigation of the performance of learners about testing, given the tendencies in the industry and motivation caused by the unavailability of similar studies in software testing field. Design/methodology/approach - This study is based on the data collected over three years (between 2012 and 2014) from students taking the software testing course. The course is included in the second year of undergraduate curriculum for the bachelor of engineering (SE). Findings - It has been observed that, from the performance perspective, automated testing outperforms structural and functional testing techniques, and that a strong correlation exists among these three approaches. Moreover, a strong programming background does help toward further success in structural and automated testing, but has no effect on functional testing. The results of different teaching styles within the course are also presented together with an analysis exploring the relationship between students' gender and success in the software testing course, revealing that there is no difference in terms of performance between male and female students in the course. Moreover, it is advisable to introduce teaching concepts one at a time because students find it difficult to grasp the ideas otherwise. Research limitations/implications - These findings are based on the analysis conducted using three years of data collected while teaching a course in testing. Obviously, there are some limitations to this study. For example, student's strength in programming is calculated using the score of C programming courses taken in previous year/semester. Such scores may not reflect their current level of programming knowledge. Furthermore, attempt was made to ensure that the exercises given for different testing techniques have similar difficulty level to guarantee that the difference in success between these testing techniques is due to the inherent complexity of the technique itself and not because of different exercises. Still, there is small probability that a certain degree of change in success may be due to the difference in the difficulty levels of the exercises. As such, it is obviously premature to consider the present results as final since there is a lack of similar type of studies, with which the authors can compare the results. Therefore, more work needs to be done in different settings to draw sound conclusions in this respect. Originality/value - Although there are few studies (see e.g. Chan et al., 2005; Garousi and Zhi, 2013; Ng et al., 2004) exploring the preference of testers over distinct software testing techniques in the industry, there appears to be no paper comparing the preferences and performances of learners in terms of different testing techniques.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 178
    Citation - Scopus: 235
    Theory of Reasoned Action Application for Green Information Technology Acceptance
    (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd, 2014) Mishra, Deepti; Akman, Ibrahim; Mishra, Alok
    The increase in the use of Information Technology (IT) in recent decades has contributed to additional power consumption as well as a potential overuse of scarce resources. Also, IT is quickly surpassing air transportation in terms of its carbon footprint. For these reasons, increased environmental awareness has increased interest in Green Information Technology (GIT) among IT practitioners. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate behavior for the adoption of GIT applying the conceptual model, referred to as the 'Theory of Reasoned Action' (TEA). For this purpose, a survey was conducted among IT professionals from major public and private sector establishments. Findings indicated that behavioral intention influences actual behavior positively. IT professionals with positive intentions towards GIT issues are actually practicing GIT in their work. Results also indicated that external factors such as person related beliefs, sector of respondents' establishment, and level of awareness have significant impact on attitude towards adoption of GIT. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.