The changing roles of engineers

Unlike other professionals such as lawyers and medical practitioners, engineers are predominantly employees in organisations and are therefore different from the traditional meaning of 'profession'. In spite of their large numbers in industrialised countries, and the considerable diversity among the engineers inherent as a profession, they have continued to reposition themselves from time to time in line with changes in management and organisational paradigms and emerged successfully This article discusses the evolution of engineering as a profession from an historical perspective.