WHY is Engineering NOT regarded as a profession like Medicine or Law???

Engineering is a profession and a very tough one at that! Some Engineers DO make a lot depending on where they work and what they specialized in and the level of degree they received. Some lawyers dont make all that much ie public defenders. I never doubted that engineering was a profession. I am not sure what made you think this to begin with.

Classically, the "professions" were medicine, law and the clergy. The reasoning behind separating them from 'trades' or 'occupations' that may otherwise fulfill the same criteria is that all of them are supposed to involve a responsibility to one's clients that overrides financial considerations (in other words, a code of ethics). A doctor cannot just abandon a patient for nonpayment, for example--they are required to find the patient equivalent care. If they don't, they can be censured by their own societies like the AMA as well as by government or other official bodies. Or to give another example, a doctor cannot divulge a patient's confidences without his/her permission. They can lose their license for that. However, engineering is also definitely considered to be a profession in that it requires advanced and specialized knowledge, examination and licensing by a governing body, and training that includes updating of skills. I am not an engineer, but I would imagine that their societies also enforce a code of ethics as well. It's just a more recent comer to the title. *g*

Engineering is a profession, just as accounting is a profession. However, neither is really looked at in the same way as law and medicine because you really only need to have an undergraduate education in order to enter it. You cannot become a doctor or a lawyer in the U.S. with merely a bachelor's degree (you can be a lawyer in some other countries with just a bachelor's degree, and the legal profession doesn't have the respect there that it does here).

Well, actually...it is. Engineering does require a state license in order to practice. It's average pay is quite comparable to the average pay of a doctor or lawyer. Generally, the education required to practice as an engineer is in the same ballpark as well, depending on what kind of engineer / lawyer / doctor you are comparing. Engineering as a profession, in addition to that, is very much on the way up in the world as a demanded and respected position. There is predicted to be a massive shortage of engineers in the coming years, which will have the effect of making the profession that much more valuable.

Since engineering IS regarded as a profession, your question is moot.

Profession is a tricky word. It can mean different things. Who says that engineering isn't a profession? That doesn't make any sense. Everytime I've heard an engineer they've sounded pretty professional to me.

I have always considered engineering to be a profession.

I'm not sure where you picked that up....I certainly do consider engineering a profession, and so do most people I know.

Most people consider engineering a profession. Where did you get the idea that it isn't?