Why people (generally) don't like to be engineers?

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SillyFencer

Why should I look anything up? If you make a claim, be prepared to back it up. What you are describing is designers and architects, not your typical engineer. They would be in a workshop somewhere, not an office.

Are you stupid?

Reply 121

aegilia reghander

SillyFencer

Sorry, but I think you are looking at that through rose tinted glasses. That's the best you are seeing, they are in America (we are not) and that gives no indication of the average starting salary. Most engineers end up comfortable, but not rich.

That equates to every other profession. Doctors and lawyers mostly end up comfortable and not rich.

Reply 122

ChemistBoy

With the demise of many sectors of manufacturing and industry the engineer has lost an immediate and relevant place in many people's lives. Many engineers are now involved in 'hidden' engineering that people don't really appreciate as they can't really see it. We haven't really had any great public building projects recently that haven't been embroiled in fiasco over late delivery or exceeding budgets. We haven't had the vast nation-wide projects such as motorway construction or power station building that we saw in the last great hey-day for the engineer in the UK - the 50's and 60's. With the ever growing need to modernise our power generation infrastructure that may change though. This is coupled with the fact that science and engineering are no longer trusted as areas of truth and competence as they once were.

Reply 123

TheJudge

The answer is simple. There are doctors and lawyers on TV but there are not many engineers.

Reply 124

sandra1111

It seems that a degree consideration (what common people and employers thinks of it) varies depending on the country. For example in Spain lawyers are relatively low considered because almost anybody could get a law degree, it's easy even without hard study (it's VERY hard to get a job later though) while not everybody succeed to finish an engineering degree.

Both in Spain and France doctors (not dentists) and engineers are highly considered professions (architects too, but it's much more difficult to get a job). Big companies presidents are frequently engineers rather than economists, or other degrees.

It's a big surprise for me that in UK engineers are considered as repairmen or technicians. Those jobs are performed by workers who don't have a university degree.

In these two countries it requires 5 years of hard study (Spain 5years of College, France 2years Prepa + 3years of Grande Ecole) and to become an engineer is not hard because of the number of years, but because of the difficult exams. In France it's very hard to pass the entrance competition exam (Concours) and in Spain what is hard are exams during the first 2 years.

I wonder what happens in other countries, if in engineers in USA for example are highly considered or if it is the same as in UK ...

Reply 125

MichaelScofield

I wonder what happens in other countries, if in engineers in USA for example are highly considered or if it is the same as in UK ...

It's only really the UK that treats its Engineers like dirt. It will come back to haunt the country, mark my words....

Reply 126

ertert12345

people dont like to be engineering because it is comparitvely poorly paid , offers a poorer social status and is more academically challenging than the investment banking/law/medicine which are the three big areas in the UK. generally people are lazy and engineering is too much hard work and too little reward. if engineers were paid better like they were in canada or america (where it is considered a top profession) more people would do it.

this is really bad for the whole of the UK economy because real wealth is produced by engineering and manufacturing. find any economy that has extremely well paid lawyers, politicians, doctors, and bankers and you will have an economy that specializes in producing nothing. this is why you have the boom and bust periods because when an economy produces nothing, it makes an economy look like its growing if there are credit bubbles building up. but when they pop you realize there was no real growth. the UK has been surviving on credit bubbles for a long time now.

Reply 127

ColinOfEdinburgh

MichaelScofield

It's only really the UK that treats its Engineers like dirt. It will come back to haunt the country, mark my words....

Agreed. The long term future for our country doesn't look good unless things change.
That said I'm an engineer becoming a scientist, I feel like I've escaped whilst I can!