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Preliminary analysis of a survey of research software engineers in the UK.

Preliminary analysis of a survey of research software engineers in the UK.
Preliminary analysis of a survey of research software engineers in the UK.
This paper presents results from a survey conducted on a new role in academia: the Research Software Engineer (RSE). The survey provides much needed demographic information about the education, field, gender, job satisfaction and career plans of the people of RSEs. The community is found to be highly educated, derive mainly from the hard sciences, and to be predominantly male. Respondents report satisfaction in their jobs, but indicate that career progression is both difficult and opaque.

This paper supports a continued discussion about the experience of RSEs and recommends further investigation into this important community.
Research Software, Research Software Engineer, Research Software Engineering, RSE, UK
Hettrick, Simon
9eef9cf0-86e8-4562-bead-684915a1de5c
Philippe, Olivier R
6da63417-8eb6-4d16-9752-e8a92e97de39
Chue hong, Neil PH
0e045883-072e-41f6-ad01-9cf2fe5b00dc
Hettrick, Simon
9eef9cf0-86e8-4562-bead-684915a1de5c
Philippe, Olivier R
6da63417-8eb6-4d16-9752-e8a92e97de39
Chue hong, Neil PH
0e045883-072e-41f6-ad01-9cf2fe5b00dc

Hettrick, Simon, Philippe, Olivier R and Chue hong, Neil PH (2016) Preliminary analysis of a survey of research software engineers in the UK. In 4th Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences, WSSSPE4 2016, 19. 6 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

This paper presents results from a survey conducted on a new role in academia: the Research Software Engineer (RSE). The survey provides much needed demographic information about the education, field, gender, job satisfaction and career plans of the people of RSEs. The community is found to be highly educated, derive mainly from the hard sciences, and to be predominantly male. Respondents report satisfaction in their jobs, but indicate that career progression is both difficult and opaque.

This paper supports a continued discussion about the experience of RSEs and recommends further investigation into this important community.

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More information

Published date: 2016
Venue - Dates: 4th Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences, 2016-09-12 - 2016-09-14
Keywords: Research Software, Research Software Engineer, Research Software Engineering, RSE, UK

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 504685
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/504685
PURE UUID: 534dcaf9-1d68-4be3-a6b1-ee09d5599c87
ORCID for Simon Hettrick: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6809-5195

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 17 Sep 2025 17:02
Last modified: 18 Sep 2025 01:37

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Contributors

Author: Simon Hettrick ORCID iD
Author: Olivier R Philippe
Author: Neil PH Chue hong

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