What % of your classmates changed majors away from engineering?

sakky
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:08:18 +0000

Why do other countries, with very similar economies produce far more engineers (per capita, obviously) than us?

I’m referring to OECD economies & bachelors of engineering



I think it’s simple - because the engineering degree and profession in those countries confers a far stronger sense of ‘social prestige’, relative to other careers. Engineers in Japan and Germany are widely admired within those societies. Same is true of the East Asian developed nations such as S Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.

In the US, that’s not the case. Engineers are seen as ‘geeks’ and ‘nerds’. You receive very little social prestige by saying that you’re an engineer. That’s why a lot of Americans don’t really want to do it.

As Thomas Friedman once said: “In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears – and that is our problem”