Page - 186 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

186 I. Trejos-Zelaya N° Cer fied Tes ng Professionals (Costa Rica) 7 26 80 180 303 492 Dec 2013 Dec 2014 Dec 2015 Dec 2016 Dec 2017 Dec 2018 Fig. 4 Growth ofcertified testing professionals in Costa Rica, 2013–2018 6 HigherEducationonSoftware QualityandTesting InHispanic America thereare very few degreeprogrammeson SoftwareEngineer- ing, as such. Costa Rica and Panama were among the first countries to develop full degree programmes focussing on Software Engineering. Other countries have ‘Systems Engineering’ programmes that blend computer science, information systems and software engineering knowledge areas. The result is that few degree programmes on computing provide sufficient space for software quality assurance processes, softwareverificationandvalidation,softwareor software testing. It not just a matter of knowledge, for experience is lacking as well as atti- tude. This explains the difficulties faced by employers in hiring recent graduates with basic competencies on software quality and testing. Large companies such as Softtek and Choucair Testing have developed training programmes that start with foundational courses and workshops functional software testing, and then progress towards testing analysis, technical testing, security testing, performance testing, usability testing, Web testing, mobile testing, testing management, agile testing practices, testing process improvement and software quality assurance— amongothers.Smaller companieshave a reducedassortment of trainingcoursesor workshops, and resort to guided self-study or mentored study groups.Syllabi from the ISTQB and ASQ (CSQE) certifications have provided guidance for organising andaligningcoursecontentor studies. The above poses challenges for designing innovative curricula at universities and colleges. The following section offers examples from university experiences inCosta Rica.