Job satisfaction among software developers
Earl C. Joseph, Kurt Linberg · 1999
This study examined the relationship between software developer decision making involvement and software developer job satisfaction. Data were gathered from a questionnaire consisting of 20 items from the Short-Form Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, 12 items from the researcher-developed Software Developer Participative Decision Making (SDPDM) Scale, and five demographic items. The SDPDM Scale was assessed for reliability and validity prior to its use in the study. The results are based on a survey of 169 software developers associated with a master's program in software engineering located at a university in a large metropolitan area. This study shows a significant correlation between job satisfaction and certain decision-making involvement among software developers. The research indicates that a large number of software developers are experiencing levels of dissatisfaction in their current jobs. This job dissatisfaction may be contributing to lower software development productivity, lower software quality, and greater turnover rate of software developers. These results suggest that software development organizations should consider incorporating more participative decision-making practices in an effort to improve their software developer job satisfaction. The study also identifies other organizational practices that can positively and negatively impact software developer job satisfaction.