Why is it that in the United States engineering gets the least respect among all the professions? Did you know that every member of the Chinese Politburo is an engineer? In Germany, engineering is one of the most prestigious professions, ranking before the medical profession. According to "Marilyn", a columnist in Washington Post, Sunday Magazine Section, engineers represent one of the most important professions and at the same time one of the least respected. Here in America the populace does not know the difference between the person who drives a train and a professional engineer (P.E.). In fact they think PE stands for Physical Education (no slight intended to this admirable profession). This paper will speculate on why this situation is as it is, and provide some suggestions for improving the image of engineering and engineers and for the role engineering education could play in improving the image and influence of engineers and engineering in American Society. We all found humor in the famous line of the well-known comedian (of fond memory), Rodney Dangerfield, "…I don't get no respect!" For Rodney it was funny (and made him a lot of money). For engineers it is sad and costs society a lot of money. This paper is intended to take a serious look at the professional status of engineers and engineering with a little bit of humor in the style of Rodney.
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