WHY is Engineering NOT regarded as a profession like Medicine or Law???

Question

Engineering is not regarded as a profession like medicine or law for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include:

•the number of different professional engineering societies, •the fact that engineering societies are not a powerful as the AMA and the ABA,
•that both law and medicine require licenses granted by the state in order to practice,
•that engineering doesn’t have the social stature that law and medicine have (a fact
that is reflected in the lower pay that engineers receive as compared to that of lawyers and doctors).

Despite these differences, on balance, engineering is still clearly a profession, albeit one that is not as mature as medicine and law and that should be striving.

I would LOVE to know what people think about this!!

"A 1998 poll indicated 61% of adults felt "not very well" or "not at all well" informed about engineering." http://www.discoverengineering.org/aboutengineers.asp

I am an engineer myself doing research on the standars of professions in society. It has been proven that society holds medicine and law on a higher pedestal than engineering. I am interested in knowing why.

Answer 1

Definitely you are ill informed. Are you really an engineer as you claim? Engineers do have licenses and those licenses are very important. Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineers have different types of licenses.

Engineering societies are very strong and influential. Have you ever heard of the IEEE? That is one of the biggest engineering societies in the USA and they have many conferences, publications etc and lobby to state and federal government with results.

An engineer does not need to go to "professional" school like lawyers and doctors. So that is what you may be speaking about. Doctors and Lawyers basically have a specialized graduate degree, but its usually called professional school and not a graduate school.

Engineering is thriving and people all over the world are clamoring to be Engineers. Maturity is some subjective term that has no meaning in this discussion. Many engineers have Masters and PhDs. There is no way that these engineers are less "mature" in their profession.

Just because the public does not know much about engineering or hold engineering as elite professions such as medical doctors and attorneys make the engineering profession any less in stature or importance.

And yes, most people consider engineering a profession, but not a job that requires professional school.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Engineering is a profession, just as accounting is a profession. However, neither is really looked at in the same way as law and medicine because you really only need to have an undergraduate education in order to enter it. You cannot become a doctor or a lawyer in the U.S. with merely a bachelor's degree (you can be a lawyer in some other countries with just a bachelor's degree, and the legal profession doesn't have the respect there that it does here).

Answer 4

Well, actually...it is.

Engineering does require a state license in order to practice. It's average pay is quite comparable to the average pay of a doctor or lawyer. Generally, the education required to practice as an engineer is in the same ballpark as well, depending on what kind of engineer / lawyer / doctor you are comparing. Engineering as a profession, in addition to that, is very much on the way up in the world as a demanded and respected position. There is predicted to be a massive shortage of engineers in the coming years, which will have the effect of making the profession that much more valuable.

Answer 5

Engineering is a profession and a very tough one at that! Some Engineers DO make a lot depending on where they work and what they specialized in and the level of degree they received.

Some lawyers dont make all that much ie public defenders.

I never doubted that engineering was a profession. I am not sure what made you think this to begin with.

Answer 6

The difference is that in order to get a job in the profession it doesn't require a masters or PhD. I have an engineering degree and am now a business owner.

You are correct in that the profession does not, nor will it ever pay, like a Doctor or lawyer. That's why I started my own business :0)

Answer 7

Classically, the "professions" were medicine, law and the clergy. The reasoning behind separating them from 'trades' or 'occupations' that may otherwise fulfill the same criteria is that all of them are supposed to involve a responsibility to one's clients that overrides financial considerations (in other words, a code of ethics). A doctor cannot just abandon a patient for nonpayment, for example--they are required to find the patient equivalent care. If they don't, they can be censured by their own societies like the AMA as well as by government or other official bodies. Or to give another example, a doctor cannot divulge a patient's confidences without his/her permission. They can lose their license for that.

However, engineering is also definitely considered to be a profession in that it requires advanced and specialized knowledge, examination and licensing by a governing body, and training that includes updating of skills. I am not an engineer, but I would imagine that their societies also enforce a code of ethics as well. It's just a more recent comer to the title. *g*

Answer 8

the clarification is going returned in background. regulation replaced right into a respected occupation for the top training. (an selection to the church or the militia). And seeing as how the top training made the regulations, it paid to understand approximately it. medicine, because of the fact it in touch multiple studying and in user-friendly terms the rich could truly discover the money for it became a occupation. Any place which could get you in that close touch with the King replaced into respected with the help of the top training. Engineers in spite of the fact that have been jumped-up little tradesman. "all people" might have concept up what they did given time. because of the fact trades did not earn plenty, this flowed directly to engineers. notice: There are some places the place you're able to be registered to paintings as an engineer. additionally - not all attorneys get the pay you notice on the tele. think of of small u . s . a . practices the place the main paintings is wills and conveyancing. think of of Dennis Denuto!

Answer 9

Profession is a tricky word. It can mean different things.

Who says that engineering isn't a profession? That doesn't make any sense. Everytime I've heard an engineer they've sounded pretty professional to me.

Answer 10

I have always considered engineering to be a profession.