The American Electrical Engineering Occupation:
Profession, Professionalization, Power and Status
H. Michael Boyd, PhD
Dr. Boyd is a full-time Professor of Organizational and Human Resources at Bentley University and President of Boyd Associates consulting to enterprises from Fortune 100 companies to startups. Michael Boyd is an internationally recognized expert in the field of human resources with over 30 years of corporate and consulting experience and is professionally active as an educator, consultant, writer, and speaker.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007903893
Copyright © 2007 - all rights reserved
ISBN 978-0-9791703-0-0
H. Michael Boyd, Ph.D.,
Boyd Associates, Walpole, Massachusetts, USA
16 Millbrook Avenue; Walpole, MA 02081 USA
$ 39.95 (USD)
ABSTRACT
The Sociology Of The American Electrical Engineering Occupation:
A Socio-Historical Analysis of the Profession, Professionalization, Power and Status
This book deals with the sociological aspects of power, knowledge, status and technology as they are found in a socio-historical review of the American electrical engineering profession and occupation as it has evolved from the early 1880s through the 1990s. The review centers on the American electrical engineering profession with particular emphasis on electronics. The primary foci of this discourse are the professionalizing of the American Electrical Engineering occupation, its quest for status and power, its creation and stewardship of knowledge, its control of technology, and its marriage with capitalism and industry. This is a qualitative project addressing how the social issues of power and status have influenced the evolution of the American electrical engineering profession. It will deal with three questions of sociological importance: Is the American electrical engineering group an occupation or a profession; what has been the influence of technology on the group; and how has the elite leadership of the group influenced it ? I propose the concept of a profession nested within an occupational group as a way to explain the otherwise conflicting interpretations by sociologists of analyses of the social history. This work uses the Second World War as a primary point of differentiation and transition.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract iii
Acknowledgment iv
Table of Contents v
Chapter 1. Introduction 1
I. Introduction 1
II. Research 7
III. Summary of Chapters 10
Chapter 2. Sociological Theory and Autonomy in Engineering 13
I. Sociological Perspective 13
II. Theory and Autonomy 15
III. Summary 33
Chapter 3. Concept of Profession and the Engineering Field 39
I. Broadening the Theory of Occupational Professions 39
II. Professionalism, Technology, and Power 44
III. The American Engineering Profession 56
IV. The Concept of a Modern Engineering Profession 76
V. Summary 83
Chapter 4. The American Electrical Engineering Profession 89
before W.W.II
I. Engineering Before World War II 89
II. The European Engineering Experience 90
III. Engineering in America before W.W.I. 92
IV. A Middle Class Occupation and Profession – Up To WWII 96
V. The Evolution of the Technology-Based Economy 99
And the Production of Engineers
VI. The New Engineered Workplace 109
VII. The American Engineering Profession before W.W.II 112
VIII. Pre-WWII American Electrical Engineering Professional 115
Association and Status
IX. Summary 120
Chapter 5. World War II and the Modern American Electrical 130
Engineering Profession
I. Social Change and Transition of the Occupation 130
II. The A.I.E.E. and I.R.E. 145
III. The New Economic Order and Technology 149
IV. Issues of the Profession During the War 153
V. Social Realignment of the Classes and Electrical Engineers 156
Chapter 6. Post W.W.II American Electrical Engineering: 165
The Social Context
I. Post World War II 165
II. Post WWII American Electrical Engineers and Class Revisited 179
Chapter 7. The Postwar “Electronics Oriented” Profession 184
I. American Electronics Electrical Engineering 184
II. The Post-War Professional Organization 192
III. The AIEE, IRE. and IEEE 197
Chapter 8. Post War American Electrical Engineering and 207
Professional Association:
I. Electrical Engineering – Development and Change 207
II. Technology and Social Change 222
III. Education and Profession 226
III. American Electrical Engineering of the 90s: 230
IV. Beliefs, Culture, and Profession: A Case Study 234
V. Conclusions 249
Chapter 9. Summary and Conclusions 253
I. Summary and Conclusions 253
II. Hypothesis For Future Research 255
III. Future of the Engineering Professional Association 261
BIBLIOGRAPHY 265
APPENDIX A - Survey of Engineers (form) 289
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 295
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