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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People in my extended family have tended to be good at math and attracted to engineering.  But every engineer but one in my family eventually got sick of it and quit to do something else.  Sometimes they went on to higher paying things, sometimes they went to lower paying things.  The one who didn't quit feels stuck but doesn't know what else to do.   Many find it a tedious field with little upward projection and not much intellectual challenge after you know what you're doing--and that can be a real bummer for someone who is smart.  It's great the first few years--but many didn't even last ten.[/quote]

Sounds like any other jobs.
Engineers usually move up to project manager, tech lead, chief engineer, architect, director, VP, etc. management positions
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Yeah, those engineers who are good with people and like to manage others can do that.  There's a lot of technical folks who have no such skills/desires and there's a limited path upward without them.  Even chief engineers need to manage.  Tech lead isn't quite as bad--but it's capped out in most places and there's still some management.  I'm just saying that for a field that pays high and attracts bright people it's got a shelf life unless you've got broader skills.  Whereas if you are a humanities or social science grad and take a lower-paying job in HR or wherever and develop your skills there, you can move up higher in admin and they are really drawing a similar set of skills and you can easily pivot to positions that draw on similar managerial soft skills.  Engineering is a very pointy set of valuable skills and it's hard to move up just by being technically good--you can keep your job, you are valuable but it gets tedious.  At least that's the experience of many of the people in my family and others they know.
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