The perceived status of Engineers, 1918.

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Are you following the argument amongst the professional Engineering bodies about the need to improve the status of Engineers? Nothing much changes. For a view from 1918, read on....

Electrical Association of Australia, vol 4, 1918 and 1919.

Presidential Address by G A Julius, 5 Elizabeth St, Sydney, Friday 27th Nov 1918, 8pm.

• "..In the older countries, the public have begun to recognise the truth, that when something of importance has to be done it is necessary to call in the Engineer, and that Engineers are pre-eminently producers of results. There is yet very little realisation of this fact in Australia, and we cannot afford to sit still and let our opportunity pass. Let us try and find out wherein the fault lies, and whether it is not partly or wholly with ourselves as Engineers.

  "Recently, Dr J.A.L.Waddell, a leading Consulting Engineer in the United States, prepared an Address upon the Engineering Profession, which he subsequently delivered before several scientific bodies. Prior to the preparation of this Address he thought it desirable to put the following question to a number of prominent and representative Engineers: "What deficiencies, short-comings, or defects do you note in our profession in general, and how would you suggest correcting them?"

  "The answers that he received to this question, and that he summarised in his Address, are of such interest to Engineers that I have thought it desirable to quote them here. The existing deficiencies, short-comings, and defects in the Engineering Profession in general, as indicated by the consensus of answers received, were as follows, in the indicated order of importance.

  • Lack of appreciation of the profession by the public.
  • Deficiency in general education on the part of most Engineers.
  • Lack of culture
  • Failure of the Technical Schools to provide proper instruction in the use of the English language.
  • Failure of the Technical Schools to give a broad education
  • Uncertainty as to the definition of the term "Engineer", and exactly the class of men which it will include
  • Too small compensation for Engineers
  • The fact that Engineering is too largely a profession of regularly employed men, or as it has been rather pithily but inelegantly stated, "that too many Engineers wear the brass collar."
  • Need for a License system, Federal but not State.
  • Lack of publicity concerning Engineering achievements and general technical news and interests.
  • A tendency amongst Engineers for one man to appropriate another's invention or ideas.
  • Undue criticism of one Engineer's work by a brother Engineer.
  • Failure on the part of Engineers to recognise what the profession really is.
  • Need for a clearer appreciation by Engineers of the role they are called upon to take.
  • Lack of loyalty to the profession and to the membership thereof.
  • Giving of advice and doing preliminary work gratis.
  • Deficiency in accurate thinking.
  • Lack of accuracy in doing work.
  • Carelessness and slovenliness.
  • Lack of address and inability to speak well.
  • Inability to write well.
  • Lack of initiative in public affairs.
  • Improper methods of instruction in Technical Schools.
  • Ignoring of individuality in students by teachers of technics.
  • Lack of direct connection between Research and Engineering practice.
  • A tendency to usurp the title of Consulting Engineer by those who are not equipped to bear it.
  • Inability of many Engineers to handle men.
  • Need in this country for a better Patent system.
  • Opposition in America to the trying out of new devices and processes, and waiting instead for Europeans to make trials.
  • Favouritism instead of merit as the reason for promotion of employees in large companies.
  • Need for a fixed minimum fee basis for Engineers' compensation.
  • Need for greater standardisation of Engineering practice
  • Need for "Abbreviated Engineering Data"
  • A study of one branch of Engineering at school and subsequent practice in another branch.

A modern view.

Nearly 80 years later these observations still strike a chord. It might be argued that many of the points above are a consequence of the nature or character of people who are talented in engineering and who are attracted to the art.

It is possible that the education of engineers has advanced, and that standardisation and professional validation are better in the 1990s. But the issue of the status of the profession remains, as does the issue of the public appreciation of engineering. I have heard comments recently, after the last 20 years explosion in technical complexity particularly in electronics and computing, along the lines that "What good to us as members of the Public has ever come from all the money spent on research?". These people have their reliable cars, their mobile phones, CD players, Internet connections, video recorders, and so on. But they take them entirely for granted.....