I’ll compare the media representation of engineers to the self described representation of engineers. I’ll start with the physical description. The media paints a picture of a man with glasses dressed in a shirt, tie and dress pants as the image of an engineer. If they represent a female engineer at all, the female will be dressed in a business suit, and probably wearing glasses. Two media sources one can readily find to illustrate this point are: the comic strip Dilbert and by typing “engineer” into Google images.
Next is the intellectual and social description. Every movie or tv show that depicts engineers in some capacity shows them as smart, hardworking people. This seems to be all Hollywood shows of engineers, implying that engineers are completely dedicated to their work and have no social life. Most of the time you probably don’t even pick up on engineers in movies or tv shows as they are usually background characters. No excitement surrounding them.
I am an engineer, and have been in the engineering field since 1997. Whilst I can confirm that some engineers match the media’s physical representation, most of us don’t. This assignment got me thinking about all the engineers I have ever met or worked with. Most of the male engineers I know dress in jeans with either a polo shirt or a tee shirt. Most of the female engineers I know wear jeans and a nice shirt, but nothing I would constitute as a business suit. About half do wear glasses though.
As far as the intellectual/social representation goes, this is just as ridiculous as the physical representation. I have run across some lazy engineers. As far as the social life is concerned, engineers are just like everyone else. Some are thrill seekers, some are family oriented, and some are athletes. The point is that there is more to life than work, and I can’t think of a single engineer that wouldn’t agree with this comment.
When I read various engineering magazines, the emphasis of the articles and subsequently the pictures, are on fun, innovative projects. If pictures of the engineers are shown, they will most likely be in jeans and a tee shirt working out in the field. I tend to agree more with this type of representation which seems to rebuke the media representation of engineers.
I know several engineers who have played in bands, participate in all sorts of different athletic events such as triathlons and marathons, and are extremely family-oriented.
WEEK 4 POST - CRITICAL APPROACHES TO MEDIA TEXTS
15 years ago
My dad will sometimes hit me up with this "joke":
ReplyDeleteThe engineering major asks "How does it work?" The physics major asks "Why does it work?" And the English major asks "Would you like fries with that?"
My older brother and one of my good buddies are engineers, and I met a few others during my undergrad. I think in general, the ones I've met have been pretty smart, much like the doctors I've met. I don't think just anyone can be either profession, which is why engineers get a reputation of being nerdy. That's certainly not a defense for pop culture's representation of all engineers as nerds, but I think it's a cause.
Good joke. Here's the only engineering joke I know. What's the difference between a mechanical and civil engineer? ME's make the weapon, CE's make the target.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's bad in a good way.
ReplyDeleteHey Adam. I know we've talked about some of your thoughts on this in our "chat", but I wanted to comment on your blog as well. I have to admit that the stereotypes portrayed in media and just merely among members of society is pretty lacking. Your blog caused me to look at my own preconceived ideas about engineers...here's what comes to mind in my malleable mind: I cringe a little when I think of the profession, not because I think engineers are dorks, but because I know that to become an engineer, one has to take a lot of math courses, and that makes me cringe. I also think of a very good friend of mine, a former math teacher, who was also an engineer. He was a little pragmatic in thinking as opposed to me (the free-thinking dreamer who was always running behind in grading and appearing a little frazzled) and was always on top of his grades, but I always respected him so much for his ability to leave work behind. He played hard! He spent every second of his weekend enjoying the mountains and exploring life. He was definitely not boring! But perhaps, he was a little stereotypical...able to walk away emotionally from the job of teaching, stayed on top of grades because he was organized, and loved math, of course.
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