When it comes to testing, the tools you use can make a big difference. If you're writing unit tests in JavaScript with tools like jasmine, mocha, or chai, then the argument that karma relies heavily on JavaScript but selenium doesn't becomes irrelevant.
In my experience, I've noticed that there are very few dedicated automated testers. While selenium may be their tool of choice, its method library isn't as easy to remember compared to something like jQuery for selecting elements.
The challenge for dedicated automated testers in learning selenium's language and developers' lack of interest in picking up a less familiar language contributes to lower investment in more advanced automated testing.
There have been some attempts to integrate selenium with jQuery over the years, mostly in Java, but these implementations haven't gained significant traction.
If you're looking to incorporate jQuery features into your automated testing, Webdriverio offers an npm package with some jQuery capabilities - https://www.npmjs.com/package/webdriverio-jquery
Karma also provides a way to bring in the entire jQuery engine - https://github.com/bessdsv/karma-jasmine-jquery
The choice between JavaScript and Selenium depends on what you're testing. For front end code, using JavaScript and jQuery may be more practical than working with selenium, especially since karma offers better support for jQuery than webdriver.
Utilizing jQuery for automated testing can help build skills that are transferable to development, and vice versa, bridging the gap between developers and automated testers.