Engineers

Professionalization of Engineers

The development of the American engineering education and profession was under the heavy influence of European traditions. U.S. engineering education is a compromise between the British (practical and empirical) and the French (formal and theoretical) models. During the 19th century, most American engineers were trained on the job or through apprenticeship in a machine shop. Some engineers received formal training at the military academies. After the passage of the Morrill Act by Congress in 1862, civilian engineering schools became principal producers of engineers. Under this act, the federal government offered land grants to states for setting up schools or college programs in engineering. Many higher educational institutions took advantage of this land grant and offered studies in engineering. Today, over 300 schools offer undergraduate or graduate engineering programs.

The private sector has become a major sponsor of university engineering schools. To produce engineers capable of doing and managing complex technical tasks, industrialists lobbied legislators for changes in engineering curriculum with a strong component of management. Financial backing from the private sector exerts direct, strong, and enduring influence on the training and supply of engineers, and its employers help shape the professionalization of engineers.

Additionally, the establishment of professional organizations contributed to the professionalization and fragmentation of engineers. The growth in the number of engineering societies paralleled the trends of industrialization and urbanization. However, E. Layton has noted that the success and survival of an engineering society depends on support from its practitioners as much as from business and industry. P. Meiksins and C. Smith have observed that, unlike their British counterparts, American engineers failed to form a powerful, union-like organization. They conclude that American engineers tend to identify more with high-status management than with lower-ranking technical workers. The primary objective of [Page 248]most engineering societies is to promote solidarity and the interests of members. Each engineering society sets standards for full memberships. These requirements vary from one society to another, depending on its orientation to professionalism or business. One can be a member of an engineering association based on one of the following criteria: technical creativity, design ability, being in “responsible charge” of engineering work, and industrial affiliation. As a result, one can be admitted as a professional engineer under the membership guidelines of a particular society, but he or she may not be eligible to be a full member of another society. Even a person without any technical background or formal training in engineering could become a member. As a result, the American engineering population was and still is a loosely defined group.

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