Role of Engineers in Society

The Status of Engineers in Society

Since the mid 1800s the government has debated the perennial question ‘what is the status of engineers in society?’ Even as recently as 5 years ago an new report was commissioned by the government to ask the very same question as almost their fellow MPs asked almost 150 years ago. The question itself is problematic as the very definition of an engineer is still hotly debated. It must be understood however that engineers vitally contribute to global challenges; and their hard work and innovation directly powers the success of the Great British and European Markets.

In general the public do neither appreciate or understand the vital contribution that engineers make towards the development of society. One might argue that this lack of knowledge may be a result of too few engineering role models. In a cross section of children aged 14 to 18 that wanted to pursue a career in engineering in the London area none of the group were able to name a famous engineer.

Increasingly shocking is the unfortunate reality that the government do not recognise or consult the professional engineering institutions before making decisions. This furthermore reduces the status of engineers. Comparing this situation with many of the other professional disciplines such as Medical or Legal, their institutions are approached and consulted before government legislation is put in place. Some say that this disregard of the engineering institutions is due partly to the large number of institutions that exist (38). This has lead the government to bring up the idea of lumping large numbers of the institutions together, thus leaving less to consult. This approach is seen by many as a heavy handed and silly decision as the same result of inter-institution cooperation could be achieved by creating an engineering council of 38 members, one to represent each institution.

Typically when asked to picture an engineer, most people instantly imagine a white male. This preconception is generally correct. Only 1 in 7 professional engineers are female despite the fact that out of all the people taking higher education courses 4 in 7 are female. Along with this statistic the same report shows that there are a very small number of ethnic minorities as a percentile of the population become engineers. These racial and gender inequalities leaves the engineering society seeming harder to get into for those who are not white and male. However this could also be seen as an opportunity, as there is a group that in the future given the right role models could expand the numbers of post further education students moving onto engineering courses.

Misrepresentation also poses a large problem to professional engineers. Currently anybody may call themselves an engineer; whether they change toner in a photocopier or, they are Chartered and are calculating the maximum load of a revolutionary bridge design. On the other end of the scale for example in the legal profession you may not call yourself a lawyer unless you have passed a standard exam of set modules. It is of general consensus between engineers with degrees and higher that this should not be the case. One could conversely argue however that the qualification that the person holds should be enough to distinguish between different types.

In conclusion I believe that engineers need to be represented more in education than they are at current, perhaps with the introduction of a history of modern engineering. As proposed above I also believe that an engineering council should be formed to deal with general problems facing engineering and to act as a force to affect important government decisions. In addition I believe that high flying female engineers and engineers of different ethnic backgrounds need to be put into the public spotlight to entice young adults into engineering. Finally I feel that the industry desperately needs to instigate a rigid hierarchy of engineers to differentiate between mechanics, technicians, graduates, post graduates, doctors and chartered engineers; applicable to all people in the industry.

Appendix

Professional Engineer Magazine Jan 2008 ( June 2008
Innovation Universities and Skills Committee Inquiry into Engineering
Public Attitudes and Perceptions of Engineering and Engineers. ETB & Royal Academy of Engineering. 2007
Patterns of Higher Education Institutions in the UK. Universities UK. 2007