<p>My son is concerned about engineering and some article he read online where engineers are all introverted people. He is a mix of the two but doesn't want to lose his "social" apptitude. I bet there are many extroverted engineers-- any stories, experiences or thoughts? Thanks</p>
<p>Engineers come in all forms. They trend to be a little more introverted, but that doesn’t mean they are all like that. Being an extroverted engineer may be a big asset in the workplace.</p>
<p>Uhhh… I know plenty of party engineers… and I myself am not introverted… I think he will be fine 
everyone can find their own niche in college :D</p>
<p>Well, of course there are those math/science yogi engineers who shut themselves up 24/7 in their dorms to do problem sets. But actually, I know many engineering college students who are VERY people-friendly, have TONS of friends, LOVE to party, and enjoy meeting and getting to know people more than their problem sets. </p>
<p>So, if your son is an extroverted engineer, I assure you that whatever his college environment, he will find ‘party engineers’ (Credit to YuhikoJay for that one :)) and completely fit in. They’re out there in abundance–the ‘studying’ engineer stereotype is completely untrue (I speak from secondhand experience, being friends with many extroverted engineering students like your son!)</p>
<p>Hope this helps you!</p>
<p>My sister is an EE and my brother an IT proffessional and both of them are party people.
A major is not gonna change anything.(I am pretty sure)</p>
<p>No! Only introverts are allowed to be engineers…tell your ‘extrovert’ son to go study business administration or sports management or something.</p>
<p>Tell your son to stop reading random articles on the internet and freaking out about them unless they are from a trusted source. Saying all engineers are introverts is like saying that all Californians are hippies; it’s just a stereotype.</p>
<p>I think the engineering field needs more extroverts, though. What’s the point of a world-changing idea if you can’t convince the laymen that it is?</p>
<p>Introvert vs. Extrovert doesn’t mean “outgoing” vs. “socially awkward”. Extroverts are people who like to solve problems while brainstorming out-loud with others as ideas pop into their heads. They gain energy from the social interaction. Introverts are more guarded with their comments and prefer to speak-out only after they’ve thought through the issue and have formed a general opinion. They gain energy internally from the accomplishment of solving the problem, not necessarily from how it’s solved.</p>
<p>Engineering tends to favor the introverted mindset (in fact, I would argue that it’s the most heavily introverted profession) because you usually can’t “talk” through an engineering problem; you need to take a look at it, think about it, develop a larger picture, then formulate an approach. This is because, unlike some fields where there’s “no one right answer” and you can start virtually anywhere and talk through a path that comes to a good solution, in engineering there are usually right answers and wrong answers, so if you start off in the wrong direction, you’re in trouble. </p>
<p>I would never say that an extrovert can’t be an engineer (there are plenty), but what you tend to find is that if something doesn’t match with someone’s MBTI, they get frustrated and move on to something else. An extroverted engineer will probably start to lean towards engineering management or technical sales and is more likely to shy away from something like process design.</p>
<p>One of my son’s best friends in high school is one of the most extroverted, outgoing young people I have ever met. He’s a very fun-loving, good humored guy with a talent for improvisation (won awards) and acting. He graduated from Wash U in engineering a couple of years ago, and landed an excellent engineering spot with a major health product manufacturer.
And he’s still involved in local improvisational theater. My bet is that he’ll be running the company some day.</p>
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<p>I disagree with this quite strongly. I have been around many extroverted or outgoing design engineers. While it is true that I haven’t experienced all that many timid or shy or overly introverted types in upper management, this is simply the case of all (or most) managers are extroverts but that does not imply that all extroverts tend towards management. All elephants are grey, but not all grey things are elephants. Be careful when speaking in generalities.</p>
<p>The following answer may not be appropriate, but I am using myself in the answer. As a freshman math/CS major, maybe I was introverted but once word got around that I was senior graduating with math/CS degree the “new attention” from the girls sure made me extroverted…LOL.</p>
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<p>I would argue that the vast majority of people do not understand what extroversion means. Many comedians, for instance, are strongly introverted but incredibly outgoing.</p>
<p>Maybe I should explain more: an extrovert is a person that draws energy from external appreciation. An extreme extrovert doesn’t get excited about something unless you get excited, then your excitement gets them excited. That’s why extreme extroverts are always around others: they need that other person or persons to excite them. I’ve known people who spend 24 hours a day around others because they get depressed when alone. If you want to drive an extrovert crazy, put him in a room with some paper and a pencil and tell him to solve a problem. He’ll go nuts. He needs the back and forth of a brainstorming session to create energy and ideas to solve the problem. </p>
<p>Looking at it that way, engineering is a field that tends to frustrate extroverts. Most of your time is spend alone solving problems that require more number crunching than anything else. And the field isn’t terribly rewarding externally. Some people might fight through because they’re stubborn (though E’s aren’t really stubborn) or because they know their grades or degree will please others, but it’s not a way to set them up for success.</p>
<p>Introverts, on the other hand, draw self-worth internally. Because they don’t have the need to draw energy from the opinion of others, they’re less likely to be around others (but that doesn’t mean they’re not “out-going”) and find happiness in solving a difficult puzzle even if no one else ever sees it or knows they did it. That’s why engineering tend to appeal to them. They get frustrated when an accomplishment is judged by others especially when they think they’re right and the judges are wrong (think of the really bad American Idol singers). Because of that, a field like engineering where there are right and wrong answers strongly appeals to introverts because there’s no judging, just observation.</p>
<p>CFB53B did a great job explaining what introversion and extroversion are. It’s something that’s very commonly defined incorrectly.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I’m an extrovert (ESFP per the MBTI) and was a civil engineering major. I decided to work in construction management instead, which is more of a “people” profession rather than a technology profession.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to see the MBTI’s of everyone on here. This is a good test: [Personality</a> test based on Jung and Briggs Myers typology](<a href=“http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp]Personality”>Personality test based on Jung and Briggs Myers typology)</p>
<p>Keep in mind that it’s a spectrum, so you can be a slight extrovert or slight introvert.</p>
<p>I took that 10 years ago and was an ESFP. Just took it again and I’m an ESFJ (56%, 25%, 50%, 44% strengths, respectively), which is probably more accurate. The profile for an ESFJ perfectly describes me (to an extent that’s almost creepy).</p>
<p>I got INTJ…89, 25, 62, and 33%</p>
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<p>And yet if you go by the true meaning of an extrovert - that being someone who derives their sense of gratification from the feedback they obtain from others - then I would argue that it is irrelevant whether you are an extrovert or an introvert as an engineer. </p>
<p>Some engineers work hard and do things the right way because it give them a sense of satisfaction, while others do that because it is what other people expect of them. Either way, as long as they do things the right way, their motivation doesn’t matter. On the other side of the same coin are people who do things the wrong way, but that can happen regardless of whether they are introverted or extroverted.</p>
<p>Also, just for fun, I scored:
ENTP: 33 100 12 11</p>
<p>After reading some of the descriptions of ENTP, it has me pegged pretty well, haha.</p>
<p>To address a few more things:</p>
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<p>Not true at all. I have done at least as much work as part of a team or a group as I have alone. It is a profession where depending on what jobs you shoot for, you have the opportunity to work almost on your own or almost completely in a team environment. Therefore it can realistically appeal to both.</p>
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<p>In the modern day U.S., this is generally true, though not universally. Of course, back in, say, the 50’s and 60’s during the space race, it was a very prestigious profession that would have been externally rewarding. Today not as much. The exception is if you come from a family or group of friends who are familiar enough with engineering to hold it in high regard.</p>
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<p>And yet a huge part of engineering practice is convincing others that the answer you got is the best answer. Heck, half the battle is just convincing them that the problem you solve is the right problem! That is potentially problematic for an introvert, who wouldn’t enjoy having to be judged by others in this way. Like I said before, it is a profession that has certain appeal to both personality types.</p>
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<p>Was this a typo? It seems to contradict what you said earlier about there not generally being one right answer. I agree with what you said earlier, but not here.</p>