It is Giving Major Satisfaction: Why Fairness Matters for Software Practitioners

Abstract

Software practitioners often encounter workplace unfairness, such as unequal recognition and gender bias. While the link between fairness and job satisfaction has been established in other fields, its relevance to software professionals remains underexplored. This study examines how fairness perceptions relate to job satisfaction among software practitioners, focusing on both general trends and demographic-specific differences. We conducted an online survey of 108 software practitioners, followed by ordinal logistic regression to analyze the relationship between fairness perceptions and job satisfaction in software engineering contexts, with moderation analysis examining how this relationship varies across demographic groups. Our findings indicate that all four fairness dimensions (namely distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational fairness) significantly affect overall job satisfaction and satisfaction with job security. Among these, interpersonal fairness has the biggest impact. The relationship between fairness and job satisfaction is stronger for female, ethnically underrepresented, less experienced practitioners, and those with work limitations. Fairness in authorship emerged as an important factor for job satisfaction collectively, while fairness in policy implementation, high-demand situations, and working hours impacted specific demographic groups. This study highlights the role of fairness among software practitioners, offering strategies for organizations to promote fair practices and targeted approaches for certain demographic groups.