Cannot be an engineer without corresponding university title, be it mechanical, construction or software etc. Same as doctor or lawyer for example. Various emotional insecurities of wannabe-whatever are not that relevant here.
That really depends on the country and the spelling of title. In the Netherlands only the dutch version of the word is protected for instance. And other countries don't have protection.
Until recently you could get licensed as a Professional Engineer without a degree at all in my state (with the exams) and even today there is an waver process for 15 year of lawful practice elsewhere (my great uncle did this).
[−]gremlinunderway · 2026-11-15 Sun 15:17 UTC ·
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Nope.
Actual engineers, doctors and lawyers are given that title not through their universities but through legally-recognized standards bodies. These are standards bodies that certify them, review their work, can investigate deviations from standards and even delicense people if needed. These standards bodies may require university education too, but they set the standards and certify professionals, not the university.
In North America, there aren't any such bodies for software development. So trying to gatekeep this term because of a university degree is absolutely not the same thing as lawyers, doctors or mechanical engineers.
I would be fully supportive of gatekeeping this btw if such professional bodies (recognized by law, not just self-initiated) existed, but pretending that the title software engineer is the same as mechanical engineers, doctors and lawyers is ridiculous. Lawyers have to pass the bar and maintain certification with the bar, and can be decertified if found to be performing outside of those standards.
Until there are actual standards bodies overseeing this, sorry, your university degree equally means the same as anyone self-taught so long as no one actually oversees the work and certifies people.
Pretending your university degree qualifies you to this is equally emotionally sensitive ("but but but my university WAS SUPER DUPER HARD U GUYZ")
Actual engineers, doctors and lawyers are given that title not through their universities but through legally-recognized standards bodies. These are standards bodies that certify them, review their work, can investigate deviations from standards and even delicense people if needed. These standards bodies may require university education too, but they set the standards and certify professionals, not the university.
In North America, there aren't any such bodies for software development. So trying to gatekeep this term because of a university degree is absolutely not the same thing as lawyers, doctors or mechanical engineers.
I would be fully supportive of gatekeeping this btw if such professional bodies (recognized by law, not just self-initiated) existed, but pretending that the title software engineer is the same as mechanical engineers, doctors and lawyers is ridiculous. Lawyers have to pass the bar and maintain certification with the bar, and can be decertified if found to be performing outside of those standards.
Until there are actual standards bodies overseeing this, sorry, your university degree equally means the same as anyone self-taught so long as no one actually oversees the work and certifies people.
Pretending your university degree qualifies you to this is equally emotionally sensitive ("but but but my university WAS SUPER DUPER HARD U GUYZ")