{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31227"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31227","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Reengineering Engineering: A Glimpse of Late Professionalism","abstract":"The role of the engineer in the late capitalist society of the last half century has been misunderstood at best. The lack of a consistent job description for engineers in various fields, a lack of job security, and a lack of respect from both industry and society have spawned severe angst in the engineering community. A classic remedy for this situation has been the rallying of engineering practitioners under a banner of increased professionalism. If engineers could make themselves more like doctors and lawyers — the respected members of professional society — they would gain similar respect and job satisfaction. This project analyzes current state of engineering practice as revealed in the self-image of the individual engineer. A survey of popular engineering literature is employed in order to develop a composite self-image of the engineer: the technical hired hand of industry. \"Professionalization\" is then demonstrated to be useless in the improvement of this situation and furthermore, undesirable in the late capitalist social and economic climate of the late twentieth century. Late professionalism—an alternative to a understanding of professionalism—is offered as a means by which to improve the job satisfaction of engineers in contemporary society. Suggesting that each engineer is free to negotiate the terms, conditions, and length of his/her own employment based on a personal understanding of the job requirements, late professionalism empowers the engineer to adopt a comfortable position in the late capitalist economy. A new metaphor—the commissioned engineer—is employed in support of the late professional understanding of the engineer's occupation.","abstract_html":"The role of the engineer in the late capitalist society of the last half century has been misunderstood at best. The lack of a consistent job description for engineers in various fields, a lack of job security, and a lack of respect from both industry and society have spawned severe angst in the engineering community. A classic remedy for this situation has been the rallying of engineering practitioners under a banner of increased professionalism. If engineers could make themselves more like doctors and lawyers — the respected members of professional society — they would gain similar respect and job satisfaction. This project analyzes current state of engineering practice as revealed in the self-image of the individual engineer. A survey of popular engineering literature is employed in order to develop a composite self-image of the engineer: the technical hired hand of industry. "Professionalization" is then demonstrated to be useless in the improvement of this situation and furthermore, undesirable in the late capitalist social and economic climate of the late twentieth century. Late professionalism—an alternative to a understanding of professionalism—is offered as a means by which to improve the job satisfaction of engineers in contemporary society. Suggesting that each engineer is free to negotiate the terms, conditions, and length of his/her own employment based on a personal understanding of the job requirements, late professionalism empowers the engineer to adopt a comfortable position in the late capitalist economy. A new metaphor—the commissioned engineer—is employed in support of the late professional understanding of the engineer's occupation.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Callaham, Arthur A."],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Science and Technology Studies","degree_department":"Science and Technology Studies","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Reeves, Barbara J.","Downey, Gary L."],"committee_members":["Hirsh, Richard F.","Lesko, John J."],"year":1999,"date_issued":"1999-12-09","date_published":"1999-12-09","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:56:05Z","subjects":["late capitalism","metaphor","occupation","Professionalism"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-02142000-14380036"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-02142000-14380036","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31227","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Reeves, Barbara J.","Downey, Gary L."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Hirsh, Richard F.","Lesko, John J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Science and Technology Studies"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Callaham, Arthur A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:31:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:31:45Z","2012-06-08"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1999-12-09"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Science and Technology Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["late capitalism","metaphor","occupation","Professionalism"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-02142000-14380036"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31227"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The role of the engineer in the late capitalist society of the last half century has been misunderstood at best. The lack of a consistent job description for engineers in various fields, a lack of job security, and a lack of respect from both industry and society have spawned severe angst in the engineering community. A classic remedy for this situation has been the rallying of engineering practitioners under a banner of increased professionalism. If engineers could make themselves more like doctors and lawyers — the respected members of professional society — they would gain similar respect and job satisfaction. This project analyzes current state of engineering practice as revealed in the self-image of the individual engineer. A survey of popular engineering literature is employed in order to develop a composite self-image of the engineer: the technical hired hand of industry. \"Professionalization\" is then demonstrated to be useless in the improvement of this situation and furthermore, undesirable in the late capitalist social and economic climate of the late twentieth century. Late professionalism—an alternative to a understanding of professionalism—is offered as a means by which to improve the job satisfaction of engineers in contemporary society. Suggesting that each engineer is free to negotiate the terms, conditions, and length of his/her own employment based on a personal understanding of the job requirements, late professionalism empowers the engineer to adopt a comfortable position in the late capitalist economy. A new metaphor—the commissioned engineer—is employed in support of the late professional understanding of the engineer's occupation."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Reengineering Engineering: A Glimpse of Late Professionalism"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Reeves, Barbara J.","Downey, Gary L."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Hirsh, Richard F.","Lesko, John J."],"dc:contributor.department":["Science and Technology Studies"],"dc:creator":["Callaham, Arthur A."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:31:45Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:31:45Z","2012-06-08"],"dc:date.issued":["1999-12-09"],"dc:description.abstract":["The role of the engineer in the late capitalist society of the last half century has been misunderstood at best. The lack of a consistent job description for engineers in various fields, a lack of job security, and a lack of respect from both industry and society have spawned severe angst in the engineering community. A classic remedy for this situation has been the rallying of engineering practitioners under a banner of increased professionalism. If engineers could make themselves more like doctors and lawyers — the respected members of professional society — they would gain similar respect and job satisfaction. This project analyzes current state of engineering practice as revealed in the self-image of the individual engineer. A survey of popular engineering literature is employed in order to develop a composite self-image of the engineer: the technical hired hand of industry. \"Professionalization\" is then demonstrated to be useless in the improvement of this situation and furthermore, undesirable in the late capitalist social and economic climate of the late twentieth century. Late professionalism—an alternative to a understanding of professionalism—is offered as a means by which to improve the job satisfaction of engineers in contemporary society. Suggesting that each engineer is free to negotiate the terms, conditions, and length of his/her own employment based on a personal understanding of the job requirements, late professionalism empowers the engineer to adopt a comfortable position in the late capitalist economy. 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