Civil Engineer
Civil engineers have a fair share of being stereotyped.
It may be true that civil engineers hold the banner of engineers – because when you type engineer on Google Images, you will see a man or a woman wearing a hard hat and holding a blueprint in a construction site, which is what civil engineers do on a regular basis.
However, it’s still not an excuse that civil engineers deserve to be generalized especially when the assumptions are not at all true.
Here are the common misconceptions about civil engineers as perceived by a non-engineer:
Civil engineers only do construction.
It is common among laymen to think that what all civil engineers do is in the field of construction work.
That’s not true at all. We also deal with soils, environment, water supply, transportation, and surveying, among others.
Civil engineering is a broad field, but it’s just that construction is the most visible subfield compared to others.
Civil engineers are not creative.
True, the civil engineering course is bombarded with so much technical knowledge. Or the course actually does not cover designs which require art.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a hint of creativity. It also takes an imagination to come up with solutions that is required with a civil engineering job.
Creativity is not limited in producing amazing art, but also in problem solving.
Civil engineers draw blueprints by hand.
To those who do not have access to computer-aided drafting and design, this may be true.
But they only compose 1% of the total civil engineer population, since, come on, we’ve reached a new age of industrial revolution.
We have AutoCAD and Civil 3D now.
Civil engineers always wear pocket protectors.
Others may get this idea from Bill Bye the Science Guy who always dresses with a pocket protector.
This is utterly ridiculous. Civil engineers are not necessarily geeks or nerds, we can also be cool and hip.
Although it is not definite how civil engineers do fashion, but surely not every civil looks like Bill Nye. There is freedom to wear any clothes among civil engineers.
Civil engineering can only be for males.
Wrong. Definitely wrong. The civil engineering population used to be a job fit for males, but not anymore.
The females are catching up, taking significant roles in the civil engineering subfields.
Civil Engineers Topnotchers
Source: Foresite Group