Thanks for spotting that. It's the first time I've come across the title. They seem to have been a combination of tester and sysadmin. Take a look at the table

Thanks for spotting that. It's the first time I've come across the title. They seem to have been a combination of tester and sysadmin. Take a look at the table on pages 2 and 3 where you'll see 'PA' under the 'Position' heading. I've just started on the doc - where did you find the expansion of 'PA' into 'programmer assistant'? Only one of the 19 SDEs were female, whereas three of the nine PAs were. That's in line with the gender ratios I've seen in testing and development groups during my career. Testing is a feminised role, in line with its perceived low status. (I'm a (white cis male) tester, and I've always seem myself as a programmer assistant, as well as taking on extra tasks such as those falling under the 'PA' role here.)