Would You Encourage Your Kids to become Engineers? 4

[Christine74]

Suppose you had a child that was in the process of choosing which career path to pursue. Knowing what you know now about the engineering profession, would you encourage them to pursue that field of study, assuming that they had the necessary skills to succeed as an engineer?

I think most of us would agree that there are plenty of other careers out there that earn better pay, garner higher status, and get better benefits than engineers. And many of these degrees are much easier to obtain than an engineering degree.

What would you advise your children?

Thanks.


-Christine

 

[PSE]

I plan to provide encouragement for whatever my son decides to do. Like the other posters have indicated, I believe an engineering based education would be an excellent foundation to many professions. I will not try to force my son onto any particular path or set some personal expectation for him to try and attain. He will need to choose his own path. I know several people who are miserable in their careers and feel trapped as they are trying to please and fulfill the expectations of their parents.

Regards,

 

[plasgears]

Many years ago I advised my daughter to become a school teacher (summers off, etc.) She started U/ILL in the school of science. She found that the pre-eng students were no smarter than her, so she switched to Chem E (in the chem dept of the school of science at U/I.)

She never made less than me since grad, and now she is into six figures and not regretting it. My son went to eng school and switched to business; regrets not completing eng.

The key is to work for upstanding corporations instead of wasting time in smaller companies where sometimes non-tech individuals supervise engineers. My last job was like that, and it was a disaster. Pick your companies carefully.

 

[mechengdude]

I would not encourage or discourage my children from entering the field of engineering. I would try to do my best in explaining what one might expect from entering into the field.

I was under the misconception that getting an engineering degree meant you were "one of the smart ones" and that would pay off monetarily. That belief was bolstered by the reports of annual starting salaries for different professions. The jokes about students transferring out of the engineering college when they couldn't handle the course load or difficulty reinforced this. What I have observed in my 18 years after graduating is
* An engineer can make a respectable living and support a family.
* An engineers starting salary will typically be higher than other majors
* Many folks that majored in other schools of study have the ability to catch and surpass engineers in terms of pay
* There is a wide range of pay for engineers doing the same job. It doesn't matter how "hard" you work it matters what you are willing to be paid

 

[IRstuff]

There are some misconceptions "ease" of getting into about "other" careers. Becoming a doctor requires 4 years of medical school, post-college, plus a minimum of 2 yrs of residency for the lowest-paying job, a general practioner, who is neither board-eligible, nor board-certified. At that, the best paying jobs are not anywhere near a coast; there's nearly a $70K delta between Kansas City and Los Angeles.

A surgeon requires 7 yrs of residency, often followed by 1-2 yrs of fellowship, followed by barely 20 years of useful life before one's hand shake to much to do one's job.

This is not counting the 36-hr shifts during residency, where life-or-death decisions are made with 0 hours of sleep.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[macmet]

Well I'm still young with no wife or kids, so my answer might change when I actualy have kids, but I would encourage it. The reason being is it opens up so many doors. If I want to try something new in a year I can, but mostly what I like about it is I finished school and now I can pick what types of jobs I want to do. If I don't like it here, that doesn't necessarily mean I'll give up on engineering I may just try a different type of engineering job.

I have so many friends who took other types of degrees/schooling paths and they are sitting around terrified they've wasted the last six years of their lives. They either don't like doing what they got into or they do not get paid enough to live on their own.

Like I said though, I do not have kids and this may skew my answer. And I understand that there are a lot of incredibly cool jobs not in engineering but to me it seems almost like luck of the draw.

 

[Mrbobbyjoe]

Qshake is absolutely correct...there are no bachelors degrees harder than engineering. I was at the point of tutoring seniors in accounting when I never read their book before helping them...also, if I would have earned my degree in business or finance, I could have partied more in college and been 4.0 (most likely). Engineering is an outstanding degree to have for furthering your education in a different field. The skill level would be downhill from there. If you want to make a lot of money, get your MBA and engineer something you want, to help benefit mankind.

 

[EddyC]

I have a friend who has been a doctor for 3 years. You should hear his war stories about life at work. He has endured 10 times more unethical behavior by his employers & coworkers than I have endured in my 22 years in engineering. He got a BS degree in Biomedical Engineering before going on to med school. If he had stayed in engineering, he would now be making almost the same money that he is currently making as a Doctor. And after all that effort. He works so many hours that he has no life.

Those business types that make the big money at Wall Street are probably 1 out of 100. The other 99 fell on their faces and now work for peanuts.

I think that I'd rather have an engineer career than these other 2 careers.

 

[HgTX]

No bachelor's degrees harder than engineering? Physics? Mathematics? I went to a unversity where the undgraduate architecture program was pretty rigourous; they worked like dogs for five years.

"Hard" is entirely in the eye of the beholder. To me, getting a degree in literature would be really, really hard. Getting a degree in engineering was easy. I do this because this is what my brain is comfortable with.

Engineering can be a great field. But we don't need to go patting ourselves on the back implying that everyone else is intellectually inferior (see the "Arrogant Engineers" thread elsewhere).

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[Mrbobbyjoe]

Okay fine, physics, masters in mathematics do get my attention...engineering isnt for everyone...just because someone can't make it in engineering doesnt mean they arent "smart" people. Let an individual fallow his/her own path in life. I would recommend engineering to my children only because, with an engineering degree, you can do anything, anywhere. I couldnt be a Lit/ liberal arts major, I hate writing (and I write specs for 50% of my career, which sux).

 

[IRstuff]

It seems interesting that when someone asks about the merits of changing jobs or moving to a new city that "greener grass" is often cited, yet no one here seems to contemplate that all the griping and whining about engineering might just be a "greener grass" syndrome.

Does anyone really think that it'll be a cakewalk to make $500K/yr? It takes a surgeon 13 yrs AFTER a Bachelors degree to get to that point, and even then, how many of them actually get to enjoy their lives, wives, and children?

Ditto a different thread about investment bankers. Nonwithstanding some shoddy and misleading statistics, does anyone think that everyone could earn $500K as an "average" investment banker?

The bottomline is that you need to balance happiness and money; they are neither equivalent nor interchangeable. Having a loving family and spending time with same is priceless. In another thread in the Pat's Pub, people are talking about the things they did with their families over the last weekend. It's taken for granted that one gets that weekend off, yet, 24/7, you go to the emergency room during Labor Day weekend or any weekend, and there are doctors and nurses on call and on duty.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[KENAT]

If they have the skills and inclination then yeah, I'd probably encourage them. However, I wouldn't try and mindwash them or blow smoke...

While there are elements of truth to many points above, a lot of it is green grass syndrome as IRstuff points out.

While I can't justify it and it doesn't really make sense I can't help thinking (feeling?) that at least certain engineering bachelors are harder than most other bachelors. In fact I know for a fact that aerospace is the hardest, it must me because one of my profs said as much ;-).

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[Ashereng]

A simple answer to your OP: No.

Engineering is a good choice - look at all the passionate opinions above.

Engineering, I don't think, is any harder or easier than any other career. Yes, math, physics etc are tough. But you know what, so is being a concert pianist, or a professinal dance company dancer, or singer (have you heard your colleagues at karaoke) or any other career. I my humble opinion, it is only hard if you are not good at it, or conversely, it is pretty easy if you are good at it.

However, I don't think that given everything else being equal, there are better return on investment than engineering.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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[mshimko]

Initial answer - YES.

More importantly, I'd want them to understand the difference between science and engineering, probably career paths, etc, then choose.

I have a niece that is a scientist who just recently successfullt defended her PhD dissertation.

I have a daughter who graduated with an engineering degree 3 years ago.

My other daughter just graduated and is a teacher, just to show I don't apply too much pressure

Final answer remains - YES.

 

[Lion06]

HgTX-
Would getting a lit degree be hard or just boring? I think there is a difference between something that is genuinely difficult for the masses and something that seems boring and tedious (and hence uninteresting).
A large number of people could not get through an engineering program, that is just the case.
I can't imagine too many people not getting through a lit degree. You might want to pull your hair out from reading and "interpreting" all day, but I somehow think you would make your way through it. Additionally, there is so much subjectivity involved in the grading of non-scientific classes that it is almost insulting to the people who do actually know what they are doing with it. I got an A in several undergrad non-scientific classes in which I had no clue (I should have gotten a C). But alas, since there is no true right or wrong answer, it is hard to tell someone they are wrong.
Now take a lit major and stick him in an engineering program and I think you will see someone truly think it is hard because it is hard, not because it is boring.
That's just my opinion

 

[csd72]

I would encourage them to become plumbers, electricians or carpenters. They start earning from the day they leave high school, get paid for every hour they work, can potentially earn more money than an engineer, and can leave their work at the end of the day not worrying about responsibility/liability.

Oh, and they dont have a student loan to pay off.

csd

 

[Qshake]

I think StructuralEIT is better at getting my point across.

I think that engineering is hard and wonderful and that there are talented indviduals out there that are challenged and rewarded to go through the program is great. I think the stereotypical engineer is one who rises to the challenge and is obviously adept at many things including getting a literature degree if they wanted. Or whatever their fancy is.

I agree with a lot of statements made but still beleive that for four year degrees engineering is going to require more dedicated, smart, and resourceful students.

I can't say that about business students and I don't think I'm being arrogant either. I feel I'm pretty humble and in most cases I always listen to others (non-engineers) and their ideas (on resolving problems) before stepping in and giving my recommendations.

Regards,
Qshake

Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.

 

[Pud]

It would be interesting to hear from any German engineers out there....

Last time I was there visiting an electronic engineering company, engineers were all addressed as "Herr Doktor", were top of the social pile (well above lawyers and doctors), and very well paid.

I guess that's why they make good cars in profitable companies....

I suppose it's a cultural thing.


Cheers

Harry

(UK, where Joe Public thinks engineers fix cars and toolmakers make spanners)

 

[metengr]

Pud;
You better check again. I made two trips to Germany this year and a third is scheduled the end of this month. My counterparts complain about insurance benefits and there is no added social benefit or elite status that I was made aware of at our business dinners. In fact, unemployment of engineers is just like this country and I am starting to see more outsourcing by German companies to 3rd world countries to cut cost (sounds like the good old US capitalism).

 

[IRstuff]

The codification of free market economics and rejection of the guild (union) system is usually traced back to Adam Smith, who was Scottish:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_smith

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[MedicineEng]

I am not in US. I am European currently working in Asia.
My take:
-Engineering has allowed me and my friends that chose it a decent life. I cannot complaint;
-Engineering principles are basicaly the same everywhere. A pump is a pump and a motor is a motor. In US, China or Africa. This gives a huge geographical flexibility for the ones that want it;
-Engineering has given me the professional challenges that after 9 years in the profession still make me think that my choice at 18 was the correct one.
Me and my brother are the first engineers in the entire family, so this is not a family tradition.
Given this I would not hesitate to tell my daughter that if she feels inclined to, she should pursue engineering.
I do not agree with some of the "do what you like most" answers. At 18, we hardly know what we like most and we have to define our most of our life by then when choosing a degree. If parents don't clarify/tutor/help their kids in the decision, then they are dismissing their function as parents.
Degrees that I wouldn't foster my kids to pursue and would do my best for them to not choose it (based on my country's/personal experience):
-Law;
-Psychology;
-Sociology;
-Human Resources;
-Management;
-Teaching
At this stage in my country every kid wants to be soccer player, actor, singer or journalist. Nobody likes hard science anymore...