I understand there was always the "weird" & "nerd" stereotype but it seems like a majority of people don't see SWE in the same light as other "white-collar" careers after AI.
Do you think this field has taken a reputational hit compared to Management, Law, Medicine, Finance, and Engineering?
What are your thoughts? Have you seen or noticed this shift? Thank you.
It didn't really merit the respect.
Traditional licensed engineering is harder, has higher risk, and should have been more respected. Software engineering just had unlimited supply since copying software is free so the unit economics we easy to achieve, copying a bridge has a bill of materials and construction cost and time.
Physical utility that manifest in the real world is undervalued, doctors, nurses, engineers, lawyers, should be more respected, and would be, in a sticks and stones and wetware human reality, early 20th century economy.
Finance and Tech are really over valued due to runaway capitalism, in a virtual and synthetic reality, of capital and debt and virtual webspace post 1980's.
toomuchtodo•45m ago
When? How so? Please provide examples. I think startup lottery wins and FAANG comp was highly regarded before AI ("kingmakers" and "software eating the world," which arguably hasn't held up so well in hindsight), but not the actual craft and practice of software engineering (except perhaps in specific organizations or teams that cultivated an engineering focused culture, which is certainly not the norm, but should be recognized as a net positive).
Sometimes status and comp align, but not always. Doctors are gods of medicine, attorneys gods of the law and legal system. Finance, titans of industry, masters of the universe. Software engineers? Not so much. They are applied mathematicians if you will, with similar status.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-component_theory_of_stra...
PaulHoule•36m ago
drop_star•27m ago
toomuchtodo•25m ago
This is not a failing on your part of course, this is a systems, status, and organizational problem. More often than not, those performing thankless work reliably and/or who have spent the time and energy necessary to build institutional knowledge are not rewarded or recognized for doing so. Best I can suggest is vote with your feet if and when it bothers you. In almost all cases, you cannot fix orgs and systems, you simply won't have the leverage or be in a position of power to do so.
https://xkcd.com/2347/
(~25 years in tech, thoughts and opinions always my own, n=1, ymmv)