This questionnairre is purely out of my personal interest, which arose out of a conversation a friend an I were having. I'm going to keep from revealing any background information about this thread so as not to skew any answers. I will elaborate on this later on. Please answer as honestly as possible
Your Age? (You can give a range if you're not comfortable with giving an actual age)
What do you do for a living?
What comes to mind when you first think of an "engineer"
What do you think engineers do at their job?
How much respect do you personally have for engineers? Name other profession in which you have similar respect
Do you believe engineers contribute significantly to our society? If so, how much? (as much as a doctor? etc...)
How much money, on average, do you think engineers make?
Are engineers overpaid, underpaid, or given just the right amount of money?
What stereotypes come to mind when you think of engineer?
How much schooling do you believe a person must go through in order to become an engineer?
Do you personally know any engineers? If yes, describe briefly
Thanks for your time
I'm in the US and I hear it's far far worse in the UK
I just finished up my first year in undergrad studying Chemical/Bio-molecular engineering. The topics I must study for my major are arguably the hardest at my university, period. On par with pure physics. Most can't hack it (about 2/3rds) and end up switching into some business related major. I'm still managing to do fairly well but it's very very time consuming
So I started questioning whether or not giving up some nights full of wild parties just to another differential equations problem set completed is worth it.
And more importantly, is it worth it in the long run? Sure, we get well paying jobs right out of college but our salaries level off VERY quickly (after 5 or so years), and then we have to fear our job security. We often have to deal with "pseudo" engineers who don't have 4 year degrees, but get paid just the same although they cannot perform a FRACTION of what we can. Then we have to deal with bosses and managers who barely understand what we do and have very little or no technical experience, but still believe they're competent enough to call the shots.
And now because lack of legal protections, there are "sanitation engineers", "domestic engineers". The guy who installs your cable? an "engineer". Your auto mechanic? A "mechanical engineer". I doubt most of these people studied system analysis in-depth.
And then we have the public, who barely knows what we do (can't blame you I didn't even really know what engineering is until I studied it)
Yet outside of public knowledge, we contribute a helluva lot to your standard of living. That lamp? That monitor you're staring at? That mouse? That mousepad with the weird foamy substance designed to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome? Those speakers? That fan? Your Car? Your deoderant? Your cellphone? The electricity running through your house? Those drugs in your cabinet? The list goes on and on and on and yet I feel we get very little respect
I mean even if scientists and professors are paid terribly, their contributions are still recognized. Same with doctors.
What I don't understand is why this profession, which contributes so much society and first world standard of living is pissed on and forgotten. More and more people are getting out of this field and if the current trend goes and on, you can expect a MAJOR slowdown technological growth.
Call it young naive idealism, but I still want to contribute something of substance to this world. But if I'm not going to get the pay or recognition I believe is deserved, forget it I'm selling out and going to Wall Street
public perception of "engineering"
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Locke Da'averan
- Posts: 2782
- Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2001 11:00 pm
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- 22
- Dock worker of sorts
- "different" ppl with irrational thinking
- their job
- giving the fact that more and more engineers end up unemployed.. hmm a police
- yes but maybe not, never interested enough to think about it actually
- 1500-2000€/month
- right amount
- stupidness/weird
- 4-5years?
- yes, my age soon to graduate thinks slightly different from other.. same with the other guy i know who'll also graduate soon
and what
- Dock worker of sorts
- "different" ppl with irrational thinking
- their job
- giving the fact that more and more engineers end up unemployed.. hmm a police
- yes but maybe not, never interested enough to think about it actually
- 1500-2000€/month
- right amount
- stupidness/weird
- 4-5years?
- yes, my age soon to graduate thinks slightly different from other.. same with the other guy i know who'll also graduate soon
and what
Your Age? (You can give a range if you're not comfortable with giving an actual age)
18
What do you do for a living?
Student
What comes to mind when you first think of an "engineer"
Someone involved in coordinating constructions.
What do you think engineers do at their job?
Coordinating construction, solving problems.
How much respect do you personally have for engineers? Name other profession in which you have similar respect.
(Under)manager
Do you believe engineers contribute significantly to our society? If so, how much? (as much as a doctor? etc...)
Don't know.
How much money, on average, do you think engineers make?
No clue.
Are engineers overpaid, underpaid, or given just the right amount of money?
N/A
What stereotypes come to mind when you think of engineer?
Stereotypes are not my thing.
How much schooling do you believe a person must go through in order to become an engineer?
Quite some, and a lot of practical experience.
Do you personally know any engineers? If yes, describe briefly
Isn't Brynn one? Otherwise I wouldn't know. I think the dutch term for it is different.... So, I'm not really sure what an engineer is.
18
What do you do for a living?
Student
What comes to mind when you first think of an "engineer"
Someone involved in coordinating constructions.
What do you think engineers do at their job?
Coordinating construction, solving problems.
How much respect do you personally have for engineers? Name other profession in which you have similar respect.
(Under)manager
Do you believe engineers contribute significantly to our society? If so, how much? (as much as a doctor? etc...)
Don't know.
How much money, on average, do you think engineers make?
No clue.
Are engineers overpaid, underpaid, or given just the right amount of money?
N/A
What stereotypes come to mind when you think of engineer?
Stereotypes are not my thing.
How much schooling do you believe a person must go through in order to become an engineer?
Quite some, and a lot of practical experience.
Do you personally know any engineers? If yes, describe briefly
Isn't Brynn one?
Otherwise I wouldn't know. I think the dutch term for it is different.... So, I'm not really sure what an engineer is.[size=-1]An optimist is a badly informed pessimist.[/size]
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Your Age? (You can give a range if you're not comfortable with giving an actual age)
15
What do you do for a living?
Student
What comes to mind when you first think of an "engineer"
Bridge Building/Designing
What do you think engineers do at their job?
Technical Diagrams/Calculations which are then transposed into reality.
How much respect do you personally have for engineers? Name other profession in which you have similar respect.
I couldn't say I "respect" any profession as such, but if I met someone who said they were an engineer, I would consider them intelligent, on par with, say, an architect, or say, high powered IT technician.
Do you believe engineers contribute significantly to our society? If so, how much? (as much as a doctor? etc...)
Yes, I belive they are essential, but not directly like a doctor, they benefit us through the results of their work, rather than their work directly, like a civil servant.
How much money, on average, do you think engineers make?
I've no idea. At a guess, about 30-40k a year (thats pounds)
Are engineers overpaid, underpaid, or given just the right amount of money?
If my guess was accurate; I'd say about right.
What stereotypes come to mind when you think of engineer?
None.
How much schooling do you believe a person must go through in order to become an engineer?
University, and achieve a degree.
Do you personally know any engineers? If yes, describe briefly
Nope.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any chance of telling us why you're asking?
Your Age? (You can give a range if you're not comfortable with giving an actual age)
15
What do you do for a living?
Student
What comes to mind when you first think of an "engineer"
Bridge Building/Designing
What do you think engineers do at their job?
Technical Diagrams/Calculations which are then transposed into reality.
How much respect do you personally have for engineers? Name other profession in which you have similar respect.
I couldn't say I "respect" any profession as such, but if I met someone who said they were an engineer, I would consider them intelligent, on par with, say, an architect, or say, high powered IT technician.
Do you believe engineers contribute significantly to our society? If so, how much? (as much as a doctor? etc...)
Yes, I belive they are essential, but not directly like a doctor, they benefit us through the results of their work, rather than their work directly, like a civil servant.
How much money, on average, do you think engineers make?
I've no idea. At a guess, about 30-40k a year (thats pounds)
Are engineers overpaid, underpaid, or given just the right amount of money?
If my guess was accurate; I'd say about right.
What stereotypes come to mind when you think of engineer?
None.
How much schooling do you believe a person must go through in order to become an engineer?
University, and achieve a degree.
Do you personally know any engineers? If yes, describe briefly
Nope.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any chance of telling us why you're asking? Mag: Don't remember much at all of last night do you?
Me: put simply.... No
Mag: From what I put together of your late night drunken ramblings? Vodka, 3 girls, and then we played tic-tac-toe and slapped each other around.
Me: put simply.... No
Mag: From what I put together of your late night drunken ramblings? Vodka, 3 girls, and then we played tic-tac-toe and slapped each other around.
My bet is that you'd actually get more response if you posted something, possible something which people could debate, instead of wanting people to post before you do (then why even start a thread?)
Many aren't all that willing to start debating in a thread when they have no idea what the thread's about and where it's going.
Many aren't all that willing to start debating in a thread when they have no idea what the thread's about and where it's going.
Insert signature here.
Your Age? (You can give a range if you're not comfortable with giving an actual age)
35
What do you do for a living?
neuroscientist (human brain research)
What comes to mind when you first think of an "engineer"
A person who works with construction, mechanics or appliction of areas like IT/computers, chemistry, physics etc
What do you think engineers do at their job?
Construction of systems or physical objects, calculations, logistics, planning, general application of technology.
How much respect do you personally have for engineers? Name other profession in which you have similar respect.
Like Giles I respect all people who do a good job whatever their job is - you can be an excellent scientist as well as an excellent bartender, but in terms of type of demands, I would consider engineers to be similar to a nurse or accountant.
Do you believe engineers contribute significantly to our society? If so, how much? (as much as a doctor? etc...)
Same as above.
How much money, on average, do you think engineers make?
2500-3000 Euro/month?
Are engineers overpaid, underpaid, or given just the right amount of money?
Overpaid compared to many other professions with longer education and more demanding decisions to make, but not overplaid in absolute terms, it's the other professions that are underpaid.
What stereotypes come to mind when you think of engineer?
A tendency for concrete thinking and maybe not the most exciting and create people around?
How much schooling do you believe a person must go through in order to become an engineer?
MSc level.
Do you personally know any engineers? If yes, describe briefly
I know several. I work with two civil engineers, one specialised in physics, the other in chemistry. I have several friends, inlcuding my husband, who are computer engineers and also one who is a pure physicist, one who is material and one logistics.
Please tell us why you want to know!
35
What do you do for a living?
neuroscientist (human brain research)
What comes to mind when you first think of an "engineer"
A person who works with construction, mechanics or appliction of areas like IT/computers, chemistry, physics etc
What do you think engineers do at their job?
Construction of systems or physical objects, calculations, logistics, planning, general application of technology.
How much respect do you personally have for engineers? Name other profession in which you have similar respect.
Like Giles I respect all people who do a good job whatever their job is - you can be an excellent scientist as well as an excellent bartender, but in terms of type of demands, I would consider engineers to be similar to a nurse or accountant.
Do you believe engineers contribute significantly to our society? If so, how much? (as much as a doctor? etc...)
Same as above.
How much money, on average, do you think engineers make?
2500-3000 Euro/month?
Are engineers overpaid, underpaid, or given just the right amount of money?
Overpaid compared to many other professions with longer education and more demanding decisions to make, but not overplaid in absolute terms, it's the other professions that are underpaid.
What stereotypes come to mind when you think of engineer?
A tendency for concrete thinking and maybe not the most exciting and create people around?
How much schooling do you believe a person must go through in order to become an engineer?
MSc level.
Do you personally know any engineers? If yes, describe briefly
I know several. I work with two civil engineers, one specialised in physics, the other in chemistry. I have several friends, inlcuding my husband, who are computer engineers and also one who is a pure physicist, one who is material and one logistics.
Please tell us why you want to know!
"There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance." - Hippocrates
Moderator of Planescape: Torment, Diablo I & II and Dungeon Siege forums
Sure
Btw, I'm in the US and I hear it's far far worse in the UK
I just finished up my first year in undergrad studying Chemical/Bio-molecular engineering. The topics I must study for my major are arguably the hardest at my university, period. On par with pure physics. Most can't hack it (about 2/3rds) and end up switching into some business related major. I'm still managing to do fairly well but it's very very time consuming
So I started questioning whether or not giving up some nights full of wild parties just to another differential equations problem set completed is worth it.
And more importantly, is it worth it in the long run? Sure, we get well paying jobs right out of college but our salaries level off VERY quickly (after 5 or so years), and then we have to fear our job security. We often have to deal with "pseudo" engineers who don't have 4 year degrees, but get paid just the same although they cannot perform a FRACTION of what we can. Then we have to deal with bosses and managers who barely understand what we do and have very little or no technical experience, but still believe they're competent enough to call the shots.
And now because lack of legal protections, there are "sanitation engineers", "domestic engineers". The guy who installs your cable? an "engineer". Your auto mechanic? A "mechanical engineer". I doubt most of these people studied system analysis in-depth.
And then we have the public, who barely knows what we do (can't blame you I didn't even really know what engineering is until I studied it)
Yet outside of public knowledge, we contribute a helluva lot to your standard of living. That lamp? That monitor you're staring at? That mouse? That mousepad with the weird foamy substance designed to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome? Those speakers? That fan? Your Car? Your deoderant? Your cellphone? The electricity running through your house? Those drugs in your cabinet? The list goes on and on and on and yet I feel we get very little respect
I mean even if scientists and professors are paid terribly, their contributions are still recognized. Same with doctors.
What I don't understand is why this profession, which contributes so much society and first world standard of living is pissed on and forgotten. More and more people are getting out of this field and if the current trend goes and on, you can expect a MAJOR slowdown technological growth.
Call it young naive idealism, but I still want to contribute something of substance to this world. But if I'm not going to get the pay or recognition I believe is deserved, forget it I'm selling out and going to Wall Street
Btw, I'm in the US and I hear it's far far worse in the UK
I just finished up my first year in undergrad studying Chemical/Bio-molecular engineering. The topics I must study for my major are arguably the hardest at my university, period. On par with pure physics. Most can't hack it (about 2/3rds) and end up switching into some business related major. I'm still managing to do fairly well but it's very very time consuming
So I started questioning whether or not giving up some nights full of wild parties just to another differential equations problem set completed is worth it.
And more importantly, is it worth it in the long run? Sure, we get well paying jobs right out of college but our salaries level off VERY quickly (after 5 or so years), and then we have to fear our job security. We often have to deal with "pseudo" engineers who don't have 4 year degrees, but get paid just the same although they cannot perform a FRACTION of what we can. Then we have to deal with bosses and managers who barely understand what we do and have very little or no technical experience, but still believe they're competent enough to call the shots.
And now because lack of legal protections, there are "sanitation engineers", "domestic engineers". The guy who installs your cable? an "engineer". Your auto mechanic? A "mechanical engineer". I doubt most of these people studied system analysis in-depth.
And then we have the public, who barely knows what we do (can't blame you I didn't even really know what engineering is until I studied it)
Yet outside of public knowledge, we contribute a helluva lot to your standard of living. That lamp? That monitor you're staring at? That mouse? That mousepad with the weird foamy substance designed to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome? Those speakers? That fan? Your Car? Your deoderant? Your cellphone? The electricity running through your house? Those drugs in your cabinet? The list goes on and on and on and yet I feel we get very little respect
I mean even if scientists and professors are paid terribly, their contributions are still recognized. Same with doctors.
What I don't understand is why this profession, which contributes so much society and first world standard of living is pissed on and forgotten. More and more people are getting out of this field and if the current trend goes and on, you can expect a MAJOR slowdown technological growth.
Call it young naive idealism, but I still want to contribute something of substance to this world. But if I'm not going to get the pay or recognition I believe is deserved, forget it I'm selling out and going to Wall Street
Honestly, I don't think neither respect from the public nor prestige from peers are variables you should let your choice of education and profession be influenced by. We should, as much as we can, try to choose from personal interest and personal satisfaction. If you are passionately interested in your field, you give yourself a good chance to develop into a very skilled engineer. If you are not so interested, you will be less prepared to work as hard and sacrifice as much as is usually necessary to reach the top level within your choosen field.prateek wrote: The list goes on and on and on and yet I feel we get very little respect
<snip>
What I don't understand is why this profession, which contributes so much society and first world standard of living is pissed on and forgotten. More and more people are getting out of this field and if the current trend goes and on, you can expect a MAJOR slowdown technological growth.
Me too, that's why I became a brain researcher. All of my work is aimed at revealing brain mechanisms and functions that can be used for development of treatment for major diseases and disorders of the brain. This is a question of my personal satisfaction and happiness. My experience of contributing lies in my knowledge of the meaning of my job - not in the eye of the public. I do enjoy the respect of my peers, but so will you - people who work with the same things always understand the meaning of it the same way as you do.Call it young naive idealism, but I still want to contribute something of substance to this world. But if I'm not going to get the pay or recognition I believe is deserved, forget it I'm selling out and going to Wall Street
I think you need to build up a stronger sense of what will give you personal satisfaction rather than thinking about what other people will think and how they will view you are your profession. I know people who have made major discoveries that have saved the lives of millions, but very few people would even recognise their names. That is not important for those people, what is important is that you know the value of yourself and what you do.
"There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance." - Hippocrates
Moderator of Planescape: Torment, Diablo I & II and Dungeon Siege forums
C Elegans,
I was actually considering neuroscience too ...before I switched to this. Very interesting subject
Provided there's not *too* much red tape, management and political bs in industry, I know I'd be happy with what I'm doing. But then again, I can say the same thing about going into academia and performing scientific research, or doing derivatives and mathematical modeling with stocks (Yea I like stocks and finance I'm a nerd)
There are quite a few fields where I'm interested in the subject matter, so this is why "minor" factors like respect, salary, and job security come into play
I was actually considering neuroscience too
...before I switched to this. Very interesting subjectProvided there's not *too* much red tape, management and political bs in industry, I know I'd be happy with what I'm doing. But then again, I can say the same thing about going into academia and performing scientific research, or doing derivatives and mathematical modeling with stocks (Yea I like stocks and finance I'm a nerd)
There are quite a few fields where I'm interested in the subject matter, so this is why "minor" factors like respect, salary, and job security come into play
[QUOTE=prateek]<snip>
What I don't understand is why this profession, which contributes so much society and first world standard of living is pissed on and forgotten. More and more people are getting out of this field and if the current trend goes and on, you can expect a MAJOR slowdown technological growth.
Call it young naive idealism, but I still want to contribute something of substance to this world. But if I'm not going to get the pay or recognition I believe is deserved, forget it I'm selling out and going to Wall Street[/QUOTE]
imo...
If these are factors which affect your choice of profession to any greater degree, then I fear you'll burn out very fast when the going gets though.
Choose your profession and place of work because you like it and want to do it/be there, not because of the amount of padding on the back, prestigue/attention or even pay you'll get.
What I don't understand is why this profession, which contributes so much society and first world standard of living is pissed on and forgotten. More and more people are getting out of this field and if the current trend goes and on, you can expect a MAJOR slowdown technological growth.
Call it young naive idealism, but I still want to contribute something of substance to this world. But if I'm not going to get the pay or recognition I believe is deserved, forget it I'm selling out and going to Wall Street[/QUOTE]
imo...
If these are factors which affect your choice of profession to any greater degree, then I fear you'll burn out very fast when the going gets though.
Choose your profession and place of work because you like it and want to do it/be there, not because of the amount of padding on the back, prestigue/attention or even pay you'll get.
Insert signature here.
I saw this topic and decided it's about time for me to start posting on these boards I've watched for a while.
I'm a mechanical engineering student in Canada, just finished up the second year of studies in our program here.
I got into engineering here because I found high school physics really easy, and also for the bravado reason of wanting to take the toughest program at our University. Seeking knowledge of how the world works and desire to be part of one of the pillars of civilization that engineering is keep me in the program.
Sure I can't go out as often as other students, and about 80% of all my classes are made out of guys, but if partying and meeting girls at school were my priorities, I wouldn't be in school at all.
There have been countless moments where I've wondered why I'm doing this very difficult and painful thing called studying engineering, but I've kept with it part out of dedication but mostly out of complete dumb stubborness. It certainly isn't as "fun" as almost all other programs and options at school, but school and later work are not so much about fun or recognition or salary as they are about personal satisfaction. There are few things I can think of that would be more personally satisfying than graduating and becoming a practicing, professional engineer.
I'm a mechanical engineering student in Canada, just finished up the second year of studies in our program here.
I got into engineering here because I found high school physics really easy, and also for the bravado reason of wanting to take the toughest program at our University. Seeking knowledge of how the world works and desire to be part of one of the pillars of civilization that engineering is keep me in the program.
Sure I can't go out as often as other students, and about 80% of all my classes are made out of guys, but if partying and meeting girls at school were my priorities, I wouldn't be in school at all.
There have been countless moments where I've wondered why I'm doing this very difficult and painful thing called studying engineering, but I've kept with it part out of dedication but mostly out of complete dumb stubborness. It certainly isn't as "fun" as almost all other programs and options at school, but school and later work are not so much about fun or recognition or salary as they are about personal satisfaction. There are few things I can think of that would be more personally satisfying than graduating and becoming a practicing, professional engineer.