| Scope and method of study. During the Fall of 1991 and the Spring of 1992 a mail and telephone survey was conducted among engineering supervisors. The survey was confined to the U.S., and discussion was limited to electrical engineering technologists and electrical engineers. The study was designed to provide data on the following topics: (a) current utilization patterns of technologists and engineers in eight defined job functions, (b) evaluation of the capabilities of technologists to accomplish those eight functions, (c) evaluation of the cognitive competencies of technologists relative to engineers, (d) assessment of growth opportunities for technologists, (e) evaluation of the relative orientation of technologists toward applications; and (f) purpose for hiring technologists. Responses from supervisors in 56 different industry types were gathered from 29 states and the District of Columbia.;Findings and conclusions. Differentiation exists between electrical engineering technologists and electrical engineers as manifested by current utilization patterns. While technologists are currently used more extensively than engineers in Customer and Field Engineering, engineers dominate in the functions of Line Engineering, Manufacturing, Research and Development, Sales, Supervision and Support Engineering. However, the degree of agreement that technologists can be used in any job function ranges from 60% for Research and Development to 92% for Support Engineering. Supervisors also differentiate between technologists and engineers through evaluation of their relative cognitive competencies. Although the technologist's competency of "application" is rated higher than other competencies, they are assessed to be less competent, overall, than engineers. Technologists are considered to be more application-oriented and are perceived to be more growth-limited than engineers, yet they are hired to perform all engineering functions. |
