It's Not About Whom You Train: An Analysis of Corporate Education in Software Engineering

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2604.06580v1
• Date: Wed, 08 Apr 2026 02:07:41 GMT
• Title: It's Not About Whom You Train: An Analysis of Corporate Education in Software Engineering
• Abstract summary: This study investigated whether sociodemographic and professional variables influence the perception of quality and effectiveness of corporate training in software engineering.<n>Of 243 combinations tested, only 35 showed statistical significance.<n>The absence of gender differences in a sample with 23% women suggests that barriers operate before training, in access and representation, not during the learning experience.
• Score: 0.3833259344457964
• License: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
• Abstract: Context: Corporate education is a strategic investment in the software industry, but little is known about how different professional profiles perceive these initiatives. Objective: To investigate whether sociodemographic and professional variables influence the perception of quality and effectiveness of corporate training in Software Engineering (SE). Method: Non-parametric significance tests were applied to data from a survey with 282 Brazilian professionals, crossing 27 perception items with 9 sociodemographic variables (gender, age, education level, state, experience, professional level, company size, area of work, and nature of participation), totaling 243 combinations. Results: Of the 243 combinations tested, only 35 showed statistical significance. Training mandatoriness was the dominant factor, affecting 24 of 27 items. Length of experience revealed a non-linear descriptive pattern with a low-engagement zone between 3 and 6 years. Differences by area of work indicated an expressive gap in soft skills training for advanced technical roles. Personal profile variables and company size produced no relevant significant differences. Conclusion: Personal profile variables do not determine the perception of quality and effectiveness, while professional trajectory variables (experience, level, area of work) produce localized differences. The voluntariness of participation remains a determining factor, in line with the literature. The absence of gender differences in a sample with 23\% women suggests that barriers operate before training, in access and representation, not during the learning experience.

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