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Would you encourage your children to become Engineers?

cstanton

Or perhaps they have naturally gravitated towards it themselves?

Some say if you have the tendency for engineering, technology, the sciences, the 'knack', then you'll gravitate towards it - but as an Engineer or perhaps a practical or technical Maker yourself is Engineering a career or hobby that you've encouraged? Or did you find that they naturally picked it up?

Or would you actually prefer they steer clear of it and why? What potential pitfalls from your experience would you advise against or to prepare for?

Parents

  • I can't say my experience is the common path, but I recall my Dad who worked at a factory bring junk parts home (motors, wiring, etc) and I would take them apart while he did stuff on his work bench. At a later date he went out and got a beay up lawn mower and had me take apart the engine. This putzing around at home led me to taking shop classes at school (electronics, metal working, wood working, auto stuff). Those experiences led me to have an interest in engineering initially.

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  • I can't say my experience is the common path, but I recall my Dad who worked at a factory bring junk parts home (motors, wiring, etc) and I would take them apart while he did stuff on his work bench. At a later date he went out and got a beay up lawn mower and had me take apart the engine. This putzing around at home led me to taking shop classes at school (electronics, metal working, wood working, auto stuff). Those experiences led me to have an interest in engineering initially.

Children
  • in reply to rscasny

    I was going to say: I bet most kids gravitate towards engineering because of a parent, grandparent or teacher encouraging an interest in such things.  Some kids just like taking things apart to see how they work (and not necessarily being able to put them back together again!) Either way, I think that kids develop the knack very quickly if they're interested enough.

    George Daniels started by taking his father's clock apart when he was out at work and failing to put it back together again; in the 1930's the only encouragement that got you was a clip around the ear!  But it started his lifelong passion with mechanical objects, particularly watches and clocks (but also Bentleys) to the extent he taught himself every step required to make a watch from scratch and invented a new escapement that changed hundreds of years of 'the norm'.  And how to change a clutch on the hard shoulder of the M6 in winter in the pouring rain.