<p>The real question is how many of those companies are technical/engineering ones?</p>
<p>Over 50%.</p>
<p>It clearly talks about that in the article. Being a CEO encompasses so much more than knowing how to do the engineering part. The point of it is an engineering degree, of any discipline, is a great springboard to not only an MBA or other masters programs but the problem solving skills are in high demand. It goes to show that engineering folks can have the skills to run all aspects of a major company.</p>
<p>The CEO of exxon will most probably be an engineer because 80% of their employees are engineers.
I’m not arguing about the useful skills an engineer has, I’m only pointing out that there are more non-technical people running engineering companies than engineers running technical or non-technical companies.
Given the hiring trends of tech companies, there are less CEO engineers than there should be.</p>
<p>I see your point but since engineers comprise the largest percentage of CEO’s of the F500 (20% compared to businesss majors at 14%) and only 50% of those engineer CEO’s work in technical/engineering companies it shows the versatility of engineering majors. They aren’t just good at working with technical/engineering companies. It makes sense that folks with business degrees can work in any field as well. That is what they are trained for. What’s not said, that I recall, is how many of the engineer CEO’s have post-bachelor degrees in business or the like. That would be interesting to know.</p>
<p>Question: Which prepares you better for modelling of systems, electrical engineering or mechanical? I assume it is used in electrical for circuit analysis and in mechanical for…</p>
<p>How are mechanical engineers versatile? They don’t have the background in biology, chemistry, or programming to do the jobs of BMEs, ChemEs, or EEs.</p>
<p>Mechanical engineers are versatile in that they probably have the most fields open to them then any other type of engineer. Yes, they can definitely work in BME… it’s not just bio and chem. Think about artificial joints, tissue engineering and things like that. ME’s can also work in HVAC, robotics, materials engineering, acoustics, manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, and I’m sure there are plenty that I forgot.</p>
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<p>Well, I don’t know about 80% of their employees being engineers. Sure, they have a lot of engineers, but 80% is clearly a bit much. </p>
<p>Look. ExxonMobil is a regular company, which means that they’re going to have departments like HR, finance, marketing, legal, sales, public relations, etc. etc. that will have very few engineers. </p>
<p>Even the Operations division of ExxonMobil, which comprise the refineries, petrochemical plants, and drill rigs that we might think of as the core competencies of the firm, the fact is, most people in those operations are not engineers. They’re technicians, most of whom won’t even have bachelor’s degrees (although some may have associate degrees). For example, on any typical drill rig or oil platform, the vast majority of employees are roughnecks or roustabouts. Only a minority of them will actually be engineers.</p>
<p>ChemE… also used to be known as universal engineer</p>
<p>Ok, maybe not 80%, but it is true that there is a disproportionate number of people in tech intensive companies with a technical background, even with MBA’s. </p>
<p>The point I was trying to make is there is not an unusual number CEO’s with technical backgrounds.</p>
<p>Of course there are an unusually high number of CEO’s with technical backgrounds. They outnumber the freaking business majors??? Do you just hate to admit that maybe engineering majors are pretty well rounded?</p>
<p>I think it makes a lot of sense that more engineers are up there than some other majors. I’m not sure how much that has to do with their being “technical” but the kind of rigour engineers have to go through in college far surpasses any other major. Its simply the discipline and problem-solving skills that result from college that allow engineers to take on and surpass tough challenges. We really don’t like giving up!</p>