Education trends: The B.E.T.: Engineer or supertechnician?: Is the bachelor of technology a needed link between engineer and technician ¿ or simply the educator's answer to sagging enrollments?

摘要

With janitors calling themselves maintenance engineers, garbage men going under the guise of sanitation engineers, and industry promoting many top-grade technicians to positions as company engineers, there is little wonder that professionally trained engineers have lost ground to eroding waves of semantic look-alikes. While public understanding of any professional activity is probably minimal, ¿engineer¿ fails to convey a clear image that laymen (and many employers) are comfortable with. Contrast this with the almost automatic respect and recognition enjoyed by doctors and lawyers. Those who have pirated ¿engineer¿ as a cloak for other activities can't really be condemned. They've simply taken very businesslike advantage of an unprotected flank.