Do Personality Profiles Differ in the Pakistani Software Industry and Academia - A Case Study

Abstract: Effects of personality profiles and human factors in software engineering (SE) have been studied from different perspectives, such as: software life cycle, team performance, software quality attributes, and so on. This study intends to compare personality profiles of software engineers in academia and industry. In this survey we have collected personality profiles of software engineers from academia and the local industry in Pakistan. According to the Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument, the most prominent personality type among Pakistani academicians is a combination of Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging (ISTJ). However the most dominant personality type among software engineers in the Pakistani software industry is a combination of Extroversion, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging (ESTJ). The results of study establish that software engineers working in industry are mostly Extroverts as compared to those in academia who tend to be Introverts. The dimensions: Sensing, Thinking, and Judging (STJ), however, remain common in the dominant personality types of software engineers, both in Pakistani software industry and academia.