Do engineers get less respect in the UK than other countries?
In the US it seems engineers are held in high regard. In the UK there seems to be an attitude that stems from centuries of aristocratic rule, that if you do something that involves your hands aswell as your brain then you are second class to bankers, accountants, business owners, lawyers, doctors etc. I'm trying to decide between studying a Mechanical Engineering degree and a Business & Finance degree as I'm a fairly logical, mathematical person. I think Engineers are the most valuable people in society but in the UK they don't get the respect they deserve.
Engineering - 3 Answers
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Answer 1 :
I think you are right, at least as far as the general public is concerned. Part of the problem is that the word 'engineer' is used loosely in the UK to include technicians, mechanics and the like. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a technician or mechanic - both are essential skilled jobs - but they are not the same as being an engineer. A relative of mine, a graduate electronics engineer, worked in mainland Europe for a number of years and found the title 'Engineer' was respected. In Germany, people would address him as Herr Engineer *Smith* (or whatever the surname happened to be). He was paid more than twice as much as he would have been in the UK and there were more businesses actively involved in engineering activities and run by qualified engineers. At work, his professional judgement carried more weight than he had experienced in the UK. The qualities that make a good engineer are not the same qualities that are required in business and finance so your alternative choices seem strange to me. I wonder if you should find out more about both lines of work paying particular attention to the variety of work, the personal difference you can make to the outcome, the opportunities for creative thinking, the nature and timescale of feedback, the level of autonomy, opportunities to travel and to collaborate with others in your field ... that sort of thing. We need good business people as well as good engineers but some of the best business people I have ever worked with trained as engineers before moving into business. I don't think I've ever met anyone who was capable of moving the other way. Choose wisely, my friend.
Answer 2 :
Pffffftttt!!!! Bwahaaahaaa!!! Who the heck told you that engineers get respect in the USA?! In the USA only the politicians and business celebrities like bill gates get any air time on the media... Yeah, sure they pay lip service to how vitally important it is to have an ample supply of well-educated engineers to keep the US "competitive", but their real agenda is to pump up false claims of engineering shortages in order to push for more H1-B visas and try to dupe more kids into this train-wreck of a profession. Is all about cheap labor and wage busting. Engineers get no real respect from society. BTW, I agree with you that engineers are more valuable than bankers and the like. My suggestion is that if you must get an engineering degree, follow it up with a business degree and start your own company. Here in the US, being just an engineer is a dead end. Real-dollar salaries have been on the downslide for decades and most engineers have their careers cut short by age discrimination.
Answer 3 :
I can't say for the US however in the UK the term Engineer is not a protected term (I believe that in Canada calling yourself an Engineer means you have to meet certain standards). Here an Engineer can be the bloke who fixes your TV, installs your Satellite dish or designs the new football stadium - no wonder people are confused by the term when everyone call call themselves an engineer. There should be a demarcation between the roles, so for example, Technician should be used more often for the people who have the screwdrivers and leave the term Engineer for those of us who use our brains, training, education and experience to design the things that society needs (like the new football stadiums and so on). Nothing wrong with being a technician - they are highly skilled in what they do and deserve the respect that they think the term engineer would give them
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