Nerdy engineers vs social engineers...

<p>i work as an engineer now and i've noticed some engineers are all about promotions and getting into management...and then there's us nerds that just want hardcore techie work and when bored, just sit there and solve hard math problems for fun...or discuss engineering-ish concepts and nerdy pranks...</p>

<p>anybody else notice this??...i feel like kids who went to pure tech schools end up really nerdy...some people who go to big state schools end up as the more outgoing social type that end up in management...</p>

<p>DH went to WVU (engineering). He is a manager, does a lot of proposals, meetings, writing, etc. He never really seemed to like sitting around doing little calculations. I worked as a civil engineer and found the tedium of doing the same calculations over and over again mind-numbing. Some people I worked with did it for years, happily grinding away in their cubicles. Definitely some kind of personality thing. Maybe the kids who went to techie schools were the nerdier ones from the outset? I mean, who goes to a school that is 70% male? One of DH’s famous criteria for a college was that it had to have at least 45% girls. :)</p>

<p>Maybe those who went to tech schools were nerdy to begin with and those who went to state schools were more social to begin with. With that being said, I went to a “tech” school and went into a field that’s more management than anything else.</p>

<p>hmmm interesting…that does kinda make sense…agrees to my opinion…i sometimes wonder what makes an engineer go into management…</p>

<p>I think many engineers who go into management have lost their cutting edge engineering skills and are looking for a way out.</p>

<p>I was an engineering major, but never worked as an engineer outside of internships. Instead, of designing buildings and structures, I decided I wanted to manage the construction process. All through college, I found myself enjoying leadership roles and managing projects. I was usually the one who took charge of class projects where we worked in teams by delegating tasks, managing the schedule, etc. It just fit my personality well, even though I liked the engineering design and analysis as well.</p>

<p>Some other people may choose to go into management for the increased pay.</p>

<p>I think it is too broad a generalization to say that tech schools produce nerds and big state schools the social engineers, but you may be right that the nerdier types choose the tech schools. I went to a tech school, and there were lots of nerds, but also more social engineers. My S is looking at tech schools, and doesn’t care about the M/F ratio, he just wants to be with a bunch of guys who share an interest in video games.</p>