Why do many (not all) Engineering majors look down on others?

<p>All in all we all poke fun at other majors within our little circle as they do also. In my college-life experiance. Its the person who is in the major, not the major. I’ve been some very stand off ish, full of themselves, think there too good, downright arrogant, Poli Sci, Criminology, Biology, Choral Education, Acting, and Philosophy majors. Its just the type of people within them that would be the same no matter what major there in. Its often the fact they are looking for respect, just not going about it a noble way. The few people I meet who truly think they know everything about everything wear two advanced medical school students… Likely angry that they wear getting their areses handed to them by their instructors daily. </p>

<p>In a fun way, Acting/Theatre performance majors ive meet (that fit the description above) wear downright crazy and thought they wear on Broadway. Philosophy guy looking majorly down on people who wear minoring in it and took intro classes, thought he had the whole world in his pocket. Poli Sci- Taking some intro classes you find these people who try to outsmart the instructor and have very close minded views, thus they are angry little people in general and found a release for their anger/people who haft to listen.</p>

<p>Each major is hard no matter what, lets love each other!</p>

<p>Engineering is one of the very few fields where it is culturally acceptable to be a jerk.</p>

<p>You can be a top-notch engineer with as bad of a personality as it gets, and you’ll still be able to survive with some (small) level of success. Yet, these personality issues are just not tolerated in other fields.</p>

<p>It’s really funny when people comment on how hard my major is, when all it really requires is an intuitive sense of how things work together. Meanwhile, I can’t even fathom having to memorize even a fraction of the information as my non-engineering peers have to, or to write a coherent essay over three pages (bullet points all the way).</p>

<p>Haha, all it takes is intuitive understanding? I would hate to drive over a bridge you designed.</p>

<p>And I thought business and finance majors had the “professional jerk” thing locked up pat. Antisocial engineers don’t tend to last long in the workplace, where nobody operates in a vacuum.</p>

<p>If you can’t write over a three-page essay then someone has let you down.</p>

<p>Because engineers are the ultimate human beings and earn the right to look down on others. Then you get into which engineering major is best. The answer is clearly civil but that’s a conversation for the engineering forum where all the smart people hang out.</p>

<p>I don’t look down on anyone. Like someone said, people are there to follow their passions and I think that’s the most important part. I kind of dislike the people in engineering solely for the salary afterward (Especially when they complain about the subjects). </p>

<p>Usually, when I introduce myself to a liberal arts major though, they’re the ones that say “oh wow, it’s hard, isn’t it?” and I usually reply “It’s not hard, just a lot of studying but you guys usually have to write those stupid essays.” </p>

<p>The times I’ve only “looked down” on others is when they start saying “college is easy, I have a 4.0 and I barely study” and they then ask me for my gpa lol. I feel ashamed and upset because perhaps I could have done that well if I were in a different major. I spend a lot of work and time into studying engineering, it’s never that easy.</p>

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<p>Depends on the college/university. Only STEM majors who took advanced H/SS courses at my LAC tended to be double majors with strong aptitudes in both fields. Those who don’t double major tend to stick with the intro-level courses. </p>

<p>Most of the engineering/CS majors I knew from high school, college, and work who believed H/SS were easy and snobbed on H/SS majors thought that because it turned out they only took the intro and known gut courses at their respective schools. Even then, I have lost count of how many of them were whining about “heavy” 300+ pages of reading/week/class and writing 10-30 page research papers. </p>

<p>I just ignore the snobbery as there are plenty of STEM majors IME who did double major in a STEM & H/SS and/or are secure in themselves to never snob like that.</p>

<p>Here is my speculation as to why it may appear or be that engineering or science majors have this view:</p>

<p>-the difficulty: as one post stated above, the lab reports alone are often at least 8 pages. Labs are often done weekly. Writing one page essays or a handful of 5-8 page reports in a English or humanities course is not a comparable workload; and so the eng/sci majors end up shaking their heads when hearing their peers complain- and then this is what you see. It’s not that they are looking down on the person doing a different major; but they likely find a comparison of workload or difficulty ridiculous. Is it not?</p>

<p>-Going off of what yet another poster said regarding the actual appreciation of engineering or the sciences in the workforce…
I think a certain level of resentment does indeed build up when someone pursues a much more difficult major, particularly when the reason is that that major is much more useful/practical/beneficial to society; and when a degree and job using that major becomes undervalued, under-appreciated, etc.</p>

<p>For the science majors, graduate school is much more necessary. This may mean a decade spent in college or more, depending on the level. And even then, after getting the PhD, job opportunities are questionable and salary is low. In fact, salary may not increase much at all going from the four year undergrad degree to the 4/6/8 year graduate degree. But the science majors still pursue grad school to be able to do what it is they want to do; out of passion or drive. Science majors often feel as if studying and doing science is the only option for them, as it is often seen as the most worthwhile pursuit. The best means to better our species and to learn about ourselves…what else could be better?
And then these same people leave graduate school, and have a hard time finding jobs (very often having to hold ‘post-doctorate’ positions with low pay that are temp and last only a year or two, before struggling to secure something else and pay off all that student debt).
I am a science major and I am aware of the above because I have done the research and talked to people. I know what is coming and I still want to follow through, but I will admit that I don’t think it is right that in our society/country/world such people as myself who follow that passion, something so needed, end up with shaky job prospects and with far less pay than others who “got lucky” by knowing the right people or just by choosing the best paying majors/getting connections etc. etc.
It is not with the individual that this problem lies; it is with the way science is valued. Yet not much changes because the people who go through all of it continue to do and why? Because of their love for it. There is no other reason to follow through with something so uncertain, so low on returns considering all that goes into it.</p>

<p>Engineering fares far better with job prospects/salary, but it is not difficult to see why they may still hold a bit of resentment/frustration when they are frequently under appreciated or if they happen to be on par with a peer with a degree in business: the skill set at the end of these two degrees in just not comparable…</p>

<p>So in summary, as a science major myself I do not ‘look down’ on others; but I do look down on the way society under appreciates and undervalues our scientists and engineers, while these same people have and are creating everything useful and important in our lives…
And the workload is greater, yes. The argument that to some eng./scientists writing or humanities or art courses would be hellish holds little value because of the level of diligence/work ethic required of engineering/sciences:
I would propose that if an engineering or science major who was the worst artist was told in the middle of one of their upper level courses that they must create the most beautiful and perfect painting according to professor X, that they would practice and practice and draw and redraw until their resulting artwork was sufficient. They may not have the aptitude for art, or music, or other fields that people in those fields do, but they are sure diligent enough that they could learn- this is proved in what is required of them in the types of coursework taken.
So then I would go on to say that the difference in curriculum between sci/eng and not is what is required in terms of work ethic/diligence, as well as difficulty- that these require a certain amount of intelligence, but that work ethic is what differentiates a ‘C/D’ science or engineering major from the ‘A/B’ ones.</p>

<p>And, going back to the original question, I want to emphasize that science and engineering majors very often go into these majors knowing what these professionals do and having great appreciation/respect for them and with a passion for the field.</p>

<p>Once you consider that everything around you, all that makes your life convenient or possible: electricity/air/transportation/cell phones/good health/average lifespan near 80/lack of diseases/etc…list could go on and on and on, basically everything that improves your life or makes sense of the world…</p>

<p>Once you realize that all of this is absolutely directly because of science and engineering, then you will understand why those in such majors don’t necessarily look down on other majors, but why they indeed rather value their own above all the above majors…
And in valuing their own majors above the others you will get the same impression- that they think less of the others.
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<p>It is basically because they have to; people who don’t choose other majors.</p>

<p>This is what I think.</p>

<p>I poke fun at non-engineering majors for them having an easier time at it than I do…for their “ease” of major. But really it’s just something that I do in fun. There’s certainly sentiment directed back at us engineers for equally stereotyping comments along the lines of use being introverted, awkward, and consumed with our school work (ie - nerds). At least in my experience…I’m not sure if that’s the same case at other schools.</p>

<p>Just a back and forth that we all do…nothing meant to be serious really, although some of what’s said might have truth to it. I realize it’s all in what a person loves/wants to do with their life, even if it’s not the same as my view.</p>

<p>lol @ your sister</p>

<p>That is all…</p>

<p>I generally respect most majors, but I don’t respect those who start off in engineering and get weeded out-which is pretty much 40-50% of the freshman engineering class. </p>

<p>From personal experience, I’ve made A’s in ALL my humanities courses so far (History, Anthropology, Polisci etc). All my Bs come in Math/Science/Engineering courses, and I consider my self a math/science person. Take from that what you will.</p>

You can’t be serious. Take a thermodynamics class and you’ll see. Every engineer needs to know how to read and write. How else can we understand textbooks and write reports? Every major in college needs to know how to write and read. That’s the bare minimum of any major. Adding mathematics and science into the picture is what makes you employable. Face the facts.

This thread is 4 years old, why is it being revived?

@preamble1776‌

IT’S ALIVE! IT’S ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!! I MADE A BRING BACK TO LIFE MACHINE! I AM THE ULTIMATE MAD ENGINEER!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!

I’ve encountered many people like this. I’m a physics major and I know other physics majors that seem to see anything less than a physics major as an easy degree. I’ve heard people say that engineering and chemistry degrees are for people who don’t have what it takes to make it in physics. Then the engineering majors turn around and talk down to the majors below them. And then we get to the gender studies majors and art majors, and they talk down to the physics majors for having such a cold, and calculated view of the world. It all comes full circle.

I’m a physics major, but I don’t in any sense look down on other majors. Some of my biggest interests include anthropology, art history, various branches of philosophy, and various aspects of history. I have far more interests outside of physics than I do within.