This isn’t to dismiss careers in engineering or the whole class of engineers. Rather, I am only saying that for the aam aadmi, engineering is simply a good stepping stone to wealth, reputation and stability.
Therefore, anyone who seems to have any sort of “brain” is encouraged to pursue engineering. The other typical choice would be medicine. But engineering is preferred for many.
Why is this so? Why Engineering has become a cultural trend in the nation.
One of the first things children are asked once they start going to school is, “What do you want to become when you grow up?”
I, myself, was asked so many times. I still remember six-year-old me saying I wanted to be a policeman. This was because I always thought traffic police personnel were the most powerful people on the streets. I also wanted to own a shop so that I could take all the things I needed from my own shop and never have to actually buy anything. Such was the logic of a first grader.
I had a friend who always said, “Engineer!” when asked and I once asked him what an engineer was or actually did. He replied, “I don’t know but my Papa says they’re rich”. As ridiculous as that sounds, especially coming from a six or seven-year-old little boy. It’s ironic that this is actually what a lot of people think of engineering.
In the pre mordern era it was a need.
After Independence, it was felt that there was a need for a large and competent technical force to develop our own industries and infrastructures. Thus, many technical institutes were opened throughout the country. With that, there was a push for more trained engineers. People who would design, build, or maintain engines, machines and structures.
With it would also come a good return in terms of employment, pay, prospects and prestige. And so there, we witness the advent of engineering education in India in its full-fledged form. The government set out to create great engineering education in the country and now, we have reputed institutes such as the IITs and NITs.
Presently, it has become a symbol or a Tag.
However, in recent years, the very nature of people’s pursuit of this career path has gone beyond the need for development. It has now begun to focus simply on the aspects of employment and prestige.
It has become somewhat of a fad. As Wikipedia defines it, a form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group and which impulse is followed enthusiastically by a group of people for a finite period of time.
So, hundreds of private engineering colleges have come up all over the country and with them, came coaching centers. Some preparing even young children for ‘entrance exams’ so they can get into engineering courses and colleges.
Who’s to Blame?
Parents?
I saw a meme recently of a conversation thread on Quora. A mother asks for coaching center suggestions for her nine-year-old child who she wishes to make an engineer out of. The sarcastic reply of one “engineer” was that she should have started her son’s coaching much earlier.
While this is simply a comical and sarcastic meme, there are elements of truth in it. Perhaps, this is one reason why engineering has become a fad in India, something everybody wants to do for the sake of doing it. Because though our parents usually mean the best for us. They sometimes have dreams if their own for us and so we have no choice but to follow along whatever set path they put us on.
For instance, take the example of the child in the meme I mentioned. He probably has no clear idea of what he truly wished to be when he grows up. At nine, one is more concerned with cartoon characters, video games, sports or any other hobby. But if he were to follow his mother’s wishes, he’d have to become an engineer someday, or at the very least, strive for it with his heart and soul.
Flaws in the System – Why Engineering Students aren’t Ready to be Engineers
However, parents are not the only ones to blame for this rush towards engineering. It’s also the entire system as a whole.
System?
The setting up of high pressure and high-intensity coaching centers all over India. The pressure exerted from schools and teachers as well as the general misconception that engineering is good for becoming rich and stable. All these factors add up together to kill the character of education making it employment oriented rather than development oriented. Rather than having kids who want to become engineers so they can build buildings and machines. We have kids who want to become engineers because it is prestigious to get into an IIT.
Thus, we see a failure in the education system and so, a noble profession is reduced to a cultural trend.
The other fault is also on the part of many institutes. Education is a great business in India. The promotion of employment oriented education through advertisements and publicity campaigns only add to the fad we see in our nation.
While it is great to have more educational institutions set up. It is also a sad reality that most private set ups are profit-making businesses with no real vision for promoting wholesome education.
Read what it takes to be an Engineer.
Or just, Students?
Students, themselves, also are to blame sometimes. Engineering has partly become a fad because of a flock mentality among students. Many kids want to do what other kids are doing without taking into consideration their capacity, talents or interests.
I knew a boy who did engineering coaching for a whole year because he simply could not think of any other option. He was bored and so thought, it would be a good thing to do. He had to leave disappointed as he did not make it into any IITs/NITs. Following a trend and in doing so, he wasted a year of his life.
Now, pursuing art, he is doing well and realizes that he should have done that from the very beginning.
Conclusion
I’d like to only reiterate that in any field and in engineering also, the trumpet is often blown to the sound of only the gains and advantages of pursuing it. However, there is much more to consider while making the crucial choice of what career to pursue, what college to go to.
My purpose in writing this article is to bring to light the fact that a fad is short-lived. If we are to promote the pursuit of quality engineering in our nation, it has to be more than a fad. To any student considering engineering, assess yourself, your capacities, your interests and more importantly, your motivations.
Why do you want to be an engineer? God forbid you should want so only because this is the craze of the times.