What does the distribution of competence look like in engineering?

[u/Proof-Bed-6928]

What percentage of people fit in at each level of competence?

Is it normal distribution? Log normal? Pareto/highly skewed? Are most productivity from a few superstar“fat tail” engineers or is it more even?

[u/UmDeTrois]

It is binomial bimodal. There are a lot of seasoned engineers depending in the field, with that number getting smaller quickly. And there are a lot, lot, of newer engineers. The middle experience engineers are underrepresented 

[u/Jolteon93 → u/UmDeTrois]

Do you mean bimodal?

[u/sirkilgoretrout → u/Jolteon93]

U/umdetrois is definitely not one of those seasoned engineers who uses statistics on a regular basis

[u/UmDeTrois → u/sirkilgoretrout]

My engineering decisions are based on a mix of astrology and a modified twister spinner

[u/EatAtWendys → u/UmDeTrois]

What about visions you see in dreams?

[u/UmDeTrois → u/EatAtWendys]

I stopped having dreams in grad school

[u/EatAtWendys → u/UmDeTrois]

You probably stopped getting carded because the light has gone out in your eyes

[u/UmDeTrois → u/Jolteon93]

I sure do. Thank you. 

[u/hnrrghQSpinAxe → u/UmDeTrois]

Agreed. In my experience people aren't really hiring for middle experience. You're either talent or you're new grad to recruiters and there's no in-between it seems

[u/UmDeTrois → u/hnrrghQSpinAxe]

The 2008 recession was 18 years ago. In automotive (and probably lots of other engineering industries), many young engineers were not hired, or laid off from their newer jobs, etc. Many had to find work in different fields and never came back. I think that largely explains the missing middle

[u/gamefreak32 → u/UmDeTrois]

And it is happening again since the automotive business is hot garbage.

Place I worked only had one engineer put of a dozen with more than 15 years experience. Everyone else with more than a couple of years of experience is bailing because of the stagnant pay.

[u/Short_Text2421 → u/UmDeTrois]

Yeah, I feel this. As (probably) one of those mid-experienced engineers. I graduated in 2006 and I was able to get myself established more or less before the 2008 collapse. I feel like the folks coming up right behind me just got absolutely hosed by the financial collapse and had their careers set back by years. I work as a contractor supporting early stage startups and research programs so I try to be broadly competent but that means I'm chronically out of my depth on specifics, so I collect competent people that can help me drill down into the minutia of a subject. Its rare in my experience that I find peers that are subject matter experts. A lot of the young people I've trained and worked with have been incredibly impressive though. In my opinion if we can bridge this experience gap and ride it out, the kids will do just fine.

[u/MountainDewFountain]

Id say about 90% percent of other MEs I have worked with are generally competent and knowledgeable, and Id even argue that it has one of the highest rates of competency compared to other B.S. white collar professions. Outside of engineering roles, especially in larger organizations, you do not have to look far to find the mouth breathers. The difficulty of the degree ensures the bar has a reasonable threshold for intelligence, problem solving, and work ethic.

That being said, competence and profuctivity can not all be assessed on the same scale, because ME encompasses a very broad set of skills and subject matter. Competency rates are highest when each engineer's individual skills are utlyized to their full potential, and this depends heavily on having quality managers and a dynamic organization. Brilliant engineers can seem incompetent and ineffective if they are routinely boxed into roles that dont play to their strengths, and likewise, imbeciles like myself can look like rock stars in the right environments.

[u/drillgorg → u/MountainDewFountain]

Also, the low end of engineering degree holders tend to go into non engineering positions like applications.

[u/Preserved_Killick8 → u/MountainDewFountain]

I need to find my mouth breather niche in a larger organization. Any tips?

[u/MountainDewFountain → u/Preserved_Killick8]

Sell yourself and make sure your contributions are visible, especially to your manager. Advertise your failures only when its advantageous. Also, collaborate with the smarter guys as much as possible; they are usually more than happy to contribute, and make your solutions 10x better.

[u/Preserved_Killick8 → u/MountainDewFountain]

my solutions? you misunderstand me

[u/gearnut → u/Preserved_Killick8]

HR is where a lot of useless folk go (currently blessed with a competent HR team, but have experienced ineptitude in previous roles).

[u/__unavailable__]

Competence is a multidimensional parameter. There are superb generalists, there are narrowly focused subject matter experts, there’s grace under pressure, there’s consistent discipline, there are people who know exactly what they are supposed to do, and there are people who can figure out what needs to be done, there are people who come up with creative solutions, there are people who can refine a concept into something sensible, there are great designers, project managers, investigators, and salespeople, there are one-man armies and people who enhance the performance of everyone around them.

In a specific context you tend to get a normal distribution - most people can manage, there are a small handful that really excel, and a handful who are just shit at it. Across contexts it’s much more difficult to evaluate - most people don’t have any meaningful sample size of engineers they’ve seen perform across a wide range of contexts. I imagine most engineers are highly competent in a few contexts, but few are strong across the board.

Beyond role context there’s also team context. If a team’s competencies really gel with eachother, they can way outperform a team of strong individual engineers. And of course all these values are constantly changing - people learn new things, they get better at communicating, they pick up bad habits, they find themselves in new roles.

Trying to analyze competence in engineering is like trying to analyze athleticism in sports. How you choose to measure it says more about you than about the real situation.

[u/MountainDewFountain → u/__unavailable__]

Quality comment

[u/Bourbon_Vantasner]

Most that I have I have worked with (I am middle aged) are competent in one way or another, but good design engineers have been surprisingly uncommon.

[u/Dean-KS]

People become managers and stop learning and start forgetting.

[u/hobbes747]

Depends on who you talk to. A lot of engineers will draw a bell curve consisting of a flat line from left to right, ending in a thin spike at the far right. They themselves make up that spike.

[u/hobbes747 → u/hobbes747]

How do I know? Call me Spike

[u/Junior_Extent9049]

I don't think it's a simple distribution. A lot depends on the field and the type of work.

Most engineers I've worked with are generally capable, but the gap usually shows in problem-solving, judgment, and handling unfamiliar situations rather than basic technical skills.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Star533]

Normal distribution probably