A cross-sectional survey of UK adults has revealed that the impact of engineering on the economy is undervalued and that misconceptions about the industry persist.
Perhaps as a consequence of this, very few people surveyed — especially young people and women — said they would consider engineering as a career.
The survey, commissioned by Bosch, was carried out in September last year among 1,347 UK adults aged between 18 and 45 years.
Only 45 per cent of those questioned — and 23 per cent of young people — believed engineering was a key industry for the UK economy, with a higher proportion of people rating retail, banking and tourism as key to the economy.
Furthermore, a large proportion of participants (92 per cent) thought that engineers mostly have technical roles in business, with less than two per cent of people thinking they are involved in running businesses.
‘In general, engineering is still seen by many people as a “behind-the-scenes” function of business, when in fact engineers have been responsible for so much innovation and business growth,’ Peter Fouquet, president of Bosch UK, told The Engineer.
One telling aspect of the survey was that participants valued end-consumer products, but not the engineering behind them — 63 per cent thought that the car has helped shape the world, while 38 per cent believed the same of the sparkplug.
‘Our awareness and acknowledgement of engineering all around us is not as strong as it should be,’ Fouquet said.
Perhaps the most concerning finding was that only 11 per cent of all participants and five per cent of 18–24 year olds considered engineering as a career, with just three per cent of female students considering the option.
‘The traditional view of engineering, as more of a manual-labour profession, discourages some people from thinking about a career in it, but the modern reality of engineering is very different,’ Fouquet said.
‘A greater focus on this reality may help attract more females to the profession, but we also need more exposure of female role models in engineering because, in order to consider a career, people need to be able to imagine themselves in a particular job.’
Engineering students were more likely to know what career they wanted compared with other students (35 per cent compared with 27 per cent of students in general), but believed there were less opportunities for them (46 per cent cited a lack of opportunity in their chosen career, compared with 31 per cent of students in general).
Nevertheless, Fouquet was confident about the future of the industry: ‘A significant proportion of the country’s economic growth in the coming years will be from sectors such as low-carbon technology, which involves a high level of advanced engineering.’
Hi Andrew,
Great topic, one which has stalked the Civil/Structural Engineering forums and magazines for many years. Never seems to disappear either.
I recently raised a poll which saw 155 Engineers (civil) vote on whether pay & status was adequate for Engineers. 87% voted against. No surprise there.
I also wrote a few pots on this, trying to get to the bottom of the problem.
http://www.buildingmadesimple.blogspot.com
What I found was that we do not take control of our own PR as Engineers. We leave it up to our Institutions – who try their best, but to be fair to them… it isn’t really their job to do this.
There are too many of us who either can’t or are not predisposed to demonstrate that we are highly skilled profession. This more to do with the fact that the Engineers who do practice self promotion, generally begin running their own businesses. Then the rest of their lives is filled with running a business and employing Engineers and protecting against them disappearing with their client base… We kind of do it to ourselves. A dirty circle.
My conclusion was that until we create a business model which involves collaboration and centres on employing graduates with a mission to create the most rounded, technically and business savvy Engineers possible – then we are only ever looking after ourselves. Ipso facto – we deserve the position which we are in now.
I would like to point to additional research findings fro our (EngineeringUK’s) annual engineering and engineers brand monitor (EEBM) which measures the perceptions of young people as well as the general public – the key is to do some thing about it which we are doing with many partners through the Big Bang Fair and Tomorrow’s Engineers -> http://www.engineeringuk.com
No real surprises from this survey I don’t think – it’s pretty obvious that consumers value end-products and services (transportation, medical equipment etc) without giving a second thought to how they were designed and developed.
Something to note though – if 11% of all UK adults did become engineers we surely wouldn’t have a recruitment problem in the industry! It would have been interesting to have asked the participants how they would define “engineer”.
I can only encourage people worried about this lack of knowledge to support organisations like STEMNET and help to promote UK engineering, particularly to school kids.
Hi Cam,
I read your comments and I have theorised that educating children or younger students will only raise our profiles to.. well kids [perhaps their parents too].
The question is, how do we alter the perceptions on Engineering to the public when Engineers themselves are guilty of not caring enough about how this problem can actually be solved.
Answer this question. When we do get through to a student, and they choose engineering as a career… then how does this change the attitudes of the next generation? Or are they likely to become mini-me versions blaming the same people or society for their reduction in status?
I believe that we have to first change our attitude before we can expect real changes.
Of course having a stream of enthusiastic, slightly autistically natured, mathematically minded volunteers to the engineering coal face for another generation of built environmental servitude is always good too….
http://buildingmadesimple.blogspot.com/2011/10/future-of-structural-engineering.html
Maybe the “casual” use of the title engineer does the engineering industry no favours. eg how many sanitation engineers were formerly called bin men? This helps people think of engineering beingdirty, menial tasks. As for perception, I am now involved in traffic signal control. I used to drive through thousands of traffic lights without thinking of the engineering involved. Not an area covered by SUG`s and definitely a shortage area for skilled people and in line with the survey even fewer women.
Glen, a good summary of the problem (and I like your blog too):
“Great topic, one which has stalked the Civil/Structural Engineering forums and magazines for many years. Never seems to disappear either.”
I’ve written about this before on The Engineer comments sections and elsewhere. I think that one reason that the topic/problem never disappears is that engineers (individuals and engineering ‘leaders’ :Institutions, RAEngineering etc) that are interested in the issues come up with the same old almost ‘technical’ analysis and technical solutions (not enough/the right education of kids, wrong titles/lack of respect for engineers/ing in the UK, too macho a culture to attract women etc. to list just a few).
I’m not saying that those points are invalid, but they certainly are not the whole story. We need to look at wider cultural, social and political (as well as economic) trends specific to an early C21 planet (cultural and social – both terms that make engineers and techies eyes roll upwards and go to sleep). Just two examples :
1) Sustainability – this has not had a really serious critique made by professional engineers – generally Engineers and engineering companies (unthinkingly in my opinion) go along with these initiatives to appear ‘public’ friendly and ‘nice’ – I guess with the idea of attracting a few more young people into the professions and engineering related businesses. Whatever one thinks of global warming (and I believe it is occurring) – sustainability (more of the same but slightly ‘nicer’) has and will have an impact on the ‘Ambitiousness’ of Engineering that it had historically – from Brunel to the Jumbo Jet and Concorde – when it had a transformative (as well as money making) purpose) which inspired all of society (from children to financial investors) to be ‘part of it’. There are many ways and arguments to address this topic – but let’s at least recognise it is something new that has a bearing on how Engineering is seen by the wider public.
2) Atomisation and self-flattery: In some ways related to the idea of societal ambition – but also related to the loss of religion and even the trades unions, today the ‘individual is King’. Where as in the past many more people to a certain extent subsumed their individuality to bigger things (Heaven, dying for their country, class and politics, profession as well as tradition), nowadays being a ‘cog in the machine’ is certainly not cool. X-factor, body piercing, Facebook and ‘friending’, staying and appearing young is. Despite attempts to make engineering seem ‘cool’ (sustainable engineering, product design ‘creatives’) at bottom engineering big and ambitious things (bridges, aircraft, can production plants) requires an element for the majority of hard graft (not instant gratification) and perhaps many years and dedication working on the same (often boring) project.
With fewer ambitious projects either on offer OR seen as problematic tied into the idea that putting of being an adult until as late as possible is good– then at least some of the reasons why engineering is suffering from ‘bad PR’ can be seen clearer. How to address these issues is another story, but let’s at least try to start on a more sophisticated and wider analysis of the problem and issues.
Thank you Paul(s)! Your points are valid.
If fact they all seem valid. The problem which I seek to uncover is more to do with what WE can do to help. As engineers.
Paul you are correct in pointing out their are not near enough high profile projects going around to satisfy all those creative Engineers out there.
Speaking from a small business point of view I believe that I have stumbled across a new client who we all have given lots of time to in the past, but not utilised as well as we should have done.
I try to summarise this idea on my post here – http://buildingmadesimple.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-engineers-want-part-two-day-in-sun.html
As for raising our profile? Learn the history of our industry and teach our Engineers to self promote for the entire profession. Collaboration is key.
Glen, in the limited space I had available – the point I was trying to make via the two examples is that the issues engineering suffers from (eg lack of ambition) lie at source outside engineering (i..e in wider society and culture) and are not susceptible to the kinds of analysis or solutions that engineers (broadly/stereotypically ) are comfortable with.
Engineers need to integrate into discussions, challenge and question and intervene as individuals and groups (who happen to be engineers) in wider social and political activities, perhaps even becoming unpopular (say by challenging soem aspects of sustainability in some cases) – rather than trying to court popularity or appear to be detatched experst. Here is one attempt to do this:
http://www.battleofideas.org.uk/index.php/2011/battles/5462/
I’ll take a look at your blog – and contribute there – that looks like a good start!
I tend to agree with one of the post above re, the term ‘engineer’ has become somewhat diluted.
I see many ‘white vans’ on the road these days with XXXXX Engineering emblazoned along the side when in reality many of these individuals / businesses are Technicians or provide Technical services. I won’t go into the Enviromental Waste Engineer aka Bin Man arguement as until we can differentiate between engineers and technicians there is no point in trying to hit the lower misuse levels.
Additionally we should consider newer technology which is changing / diluting the ‘engineer’ name. Within our business we have Software Engineers however I feel the pubic perception is that ‘programmers’ are not seen as engineers.
I think there are many issues to overcome before the term ‘Engineer’ again holds real value. Probably only a concerted effort with a multilateral approach from all the professional bodies will again bring value to the term and highlight the true roles and developments that engineers are responsible for.
Well now the ruling classes must be laughing all the way to the bank with these internecine squabbles of what defines an engineer. Some “engineers” claim that it is a university degree but I beg to differ. Many many years ago I worked for what was basically a huge quango. One could become an engineer the hard way by joining with GCE A Levels and doing in house training and tough exams where failure resulted in a trip to the Labour Exchange. We also used to suffer the plague of “GEEs”, Graduate Entry Engineers. We hated GEEs as they would do six weeks at various “stations” travelling around and after about a year they would be promoted into management thinking that they knew it all. We had one GEE come into the workshop with a die cast box that he wished to drill holes in. One hole was for a toggle switch. He fitted a 1/2″ drill bit into the drill press and switched on. Unfortunately the last person to use the machine had been drilling number 60 holes in printed circuit boards and the drill-press was set on its top speed. The machine was spinning so fast that the belts and the air were hissing. (The machine had a three phase motor with plenty of power) Wise people ducked as the drill bit entered the metal. The box was snatched from the man’s hand and after a brief spin the drill bit broke and the box flew out of the window smashing the glass as it went. Is it really possible to call someone like that an engineer? I don’t think so. The dictionary definition of Engineer is actually “a person who works with engines”. If this is so one can only assume that a knowledge of metals and strength of materials would be a prerequisite. Not all GEEs were incompetent however, one or two were extremely good in everything they did and you have to take your hat off to such people.
I wonder if Bosch, a German company, has carried out a similar exercise in their home country? If so it would be interesting to know what the results were? With results like this its diffcult to see how the UK is going to rebalance its economy away from excessive reliance on retail, banking and other services to having a greater focus on designing and making products that the rest of the world need/want to buy. Unless the Government acts decidedly and properly supports engineering and manufacturing I can’t see this happening but I hope that I am proved wrong. The massive cultural change required has to led from the very top.
We have only our selves to blame for the undervaluing of engineers.
Speaking as an engineer.
Born in 1958 some may say that makes me old…
Left school with CSE’s not O Levels!
Joined the National Coal board as an underground colliery apprentice electrician in South Yorkshire, completed my education with the NCB and the age of 23 and achieved the highest qualification provided by the NCB for day release students, Honours Certificate in mining electrical engineering. Having left the mining industry (I did not wait around for redundancy) I have worked as an engineer at Rolls Royce, Siemens and Unilever to mention a few, all household names.
The point that I am trying to make here is that I am not only proud to be an engineer I am also equally proud of the companies I have worked for.
Until engineers get out of the rut of boasting about their profession (and a brilliant profession it is) and display equal pride for the companies they have worked for engineering will never get the acclaim it deserves.
If you were to ask anyone in the UK what their profession is, answers would probably be mechanic, electrician, technician, etc but on the other hand if you were to ask a German the same question they would be proud to say that they work for Siemens, Bosch, BMW, etc.
Engineers are technical problem solvers if engineers get it wrong aeroplanes could fall out of the sky etc; not many other professions carry that level of responsibility. Despite what the companies mission statement says, the purpose of any business is to make a profit but unfortunately it is engineers who ensure that processes are carried out safely and efficiently and this affects the bottom line, we are not risk takers otherwise aero planes would fall out of the sky and for this reason engineers are viewed as the pessimistic few within the organisation.
We have to face it, that on the whole British engineers are poor communicators, if the opposite was true we would not be discussing this, on a lighter side “Star Trek” has a lot to answer for when Chief Engineer aboard Star Trek’s USS Enterprise, put it, ‘You cannae change the laws of physics’ but Captain Kirk always proved him wrong time and time again.
Engineers will never gain recognition while there is no representative in government, there is no distinction between technician and Engineer and the inhouse fighting continues between time served chip on shoulder people and graduates.
I still think that engineers salaries are largely to blame. For instance, on 11th Jan, the Daily Telegraph ran an article in pictures showing the kind of salaries graduates can expect by profession. Engineering came only in 13th place. Hardly inspiring. Mind you, the Telegraph showed a typical lack of understanding of engineering, their picture of “engineering” showed a man setting a capstan lathe. So, Peter Fouquet believes that “engineers have been responsible for so much innovation and business growth”, does he? Considering how valuable his engineers sound, does he pay them better than their peers in marketing, sales, HR and finance? I would be willing to bet that he doesn’t. How many of his engineers drive company cars? Discounting senior engineering managers, I would assume that none of them do. But you can bet that lots of their peers in the other aforementioned functions do. Doesn’t really sound as though he values his engineers that much, does it? I expect he pays them “market rates”. Well there you go then
“Furthermore, a large proportion of participants (92 per cent) thought that engineers mostly have technical roles in business, with less than two per cent of people thinking they are involved in running businesses.”
Business decisions based solely on finances by accountants are the main reason industry has shrunk and will continue to shrink.
We need companies which value ingenuity and not academic qualifications.
For two new aerospace project ideas please call.
There are many issues which blight engineers and the engineering profession, and they are all inextricably linked. Many of todays children are not being taught basic subjects which stimulate their minds as schools have introduced many spurious subjects for attaning “figures or statistics”.
Children have naturally enquiring minds and if engineering is appreciated and understood at this level they will carry this with them and become interested. Children are also being indoctrinated to a large extent, and their thoughts are controlled or manipulated. They are bought up to think they can have it all and have it NOW, and not have to work or achieve anything. Listen to any modern child and they all want money and nothing else, and many do not care how they get it. Lifestyle bears some responsibility for this, look at TV programmes such as the current crop of reality programmes to make people start, and how many subscribe to these programmes. Most of us know the only reality in a reality TV programme is that its a cheap form of TV programme and nothing else, and with a lot of unpaid wannabe’s who all want fame and fortune for nothing.
Engineering is a world apart, it required dedication, commitment, and many skills and abilities. Many projects require considerable commitment and dedication over many years to achieve a result. There is no easy path to success in engineering, but there is a lifetime of learning new skills and moving with new developments and technologies.
Basically, it requires a rethink on how and what we teach children, and stop this preposterous attitude of “you can have fame and fortune” for nothing.
To some extent the profession only has itself to blame. For years in the UK anyone who could tell the difference between a screwdriver and a hammer has been allowed to call themselves ‘An Engineer’
In countries such as Germany a qualified Engineer is considered to be on the same professional level as Doctors, Lawyers etc.
I have been in ‘the profession’ for over 40 years and I’m still learning. I came across someone recently who had a weeks training fitting alarms and he claimed to be a ‘Security Engineer’ – so much for all my years of study, training and exams!
Regarding ‘until we can differentiate between engineers and technicians there is no point in trying to hit the lower misuse levels.’ I have always liked my old lecturer’s definition of the difference between a Technician and an Engineer.
A technician is someone who is given a problem to solve and a method to solve it. This method can be highly technical and detailed. An Aerospace Technician maintaining an aircraft for example.
An Engineer is given a problem, that’s it; the engineer must find the solution. It is the problem solving I have always enjoyed, and this is how I sell my job to my younger friends.
Our American friends seem to hold the Technician role in high regard. Is that the problem, people feel undervalued with the title Technician and demand Engineer?
Gents,
I think it is time for a small revolution. The Engineers should gather together united forming a new institution but this time the Institution of Ingineers so we could be distinguished from those who call themselves engineers because can use screwdriver. We have to start to protect our profession, make it valuable, perceived as bright career so the new generation can be attracted to choose this rout – profession for life.
Most people associate engineering with the more manual vocations, such as electricians or plumbers. I’be nothing against tradesmen- they do a job just as valuable as engineers or any other profession, but they’re not engineers. We should follow the Canadian model where it is illegal to call yourself an engineer unless you are a member of on if the privincial
The low status of the engineering profession is linked to our increasingly pragmatic, anti-intellectual society. That won’t change quickly, or even ever in my opnion.
I witnessed a particularly destructive trend in my years as a graduate electronics engineer: those that could did, those that couldn’t sought careers in management. So the incompetent engineers were rewarded with lucrative futures while the capable ones toiled at the coalface on mediocre pay.
This was more damaging that it seemed because the real engineering opportunities to make the business flourish rested with the system planning (systems analysis in other walks of life) and this task was done by – you guessed it – those engineers who fled into management.
Sorry if these insights seem cynical but a lifetime of this nonesense does get to you in the end!