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<p>Which is as it should be, for we are engaged in a war for talent. The problem is that the other aforementioned professions pay even more. </p>
<p>Now, granted, perhaps one could argue that a profession such as medicine pays more than engineering because medicine actually provides greater value to society than does engineering. But the value to society provided by law, consulting and finance is questionable at best…but that only means that their ability to extract such handsome pay packages is all the more impressively cunning. If those professions can pay such high salaries in return for such dubious value to society, just imagine how much engineers could be paid for actually providing the legitimately value to society that they do. </p>
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<p>I doubt that I can truly ‘actively encourage’ something that is already happening at fever pitch. It’s not as if the top engineers from top schools headed to alternative careers only once I started posting here on CC - that had already been happening for years. All I’ve done is simply highlighted a problem that had already existed. </p>
<p>My goal was to instigate a discussion regarding how engineers can improve their standing in society. For example, if investment bankers can apparently demand and receive such high pay right out of school with practically no training, maybe the engineers could reform their own profession to do likewise. </p>
<p>But if people are simply uninterested in that, then we’ll inevitably continue to watch the best engineering graduates head to alternative professions.</p>