Professionalism
First year engineering students enter university with low levels of abilities in the field they are training in and a lack of understanding in what they are being taught. In the core engineering disciplines, the first assignment in the introductory course is to write a short essay on professional in engineering, in essence, what makes a professional engineer. Various ideas are mooted and found wanting. The general overriding consensus is that being a professional entails these factors:
- Follows strong ethical guidelines.
- Follows best practices.
- Is part of the community that surrounds the discipline.
- Takes their own time to improve and educate themselves.
- Is able and willing to teach and learn from others.
- Other concepts such as recognised qualification, tidy dress and pride in their work are also mooted.
At the University of Canterbury, the Software Engineering department is not part of the general engineering college. Hence, this concept may not get shoved down our throats. However, this idea is becoming prevalent in software engineering. Uncle Bob is an important proponent of this concept in the industry. Below are a selection of articles that touch on what being a professional means in software engineering.
- Uncle Bob's "Speed Kills"
- Uncle Bob's "The Professional Programmer"
- Uncle Bob's "The Three Laws of Test-Driven Development"
