I am afraid to say, that there is an element of British inverse snobbery / playing down achievement in our societal attitudes to academic and professional qualifications 🙁
At one extreme, many of us have expressed horror at the riots, the level (utter absence) of responsibility being shown to others, with subsequent moral hand wringing about parenting, poor education and opportunity and the general ills of society.
But then we have this British attitude which does not celebrate academic and / or professional achievement – where the role models put up are over-paid footballers, rappers or whatever. Where my son has had to be pulled up because him and his primary school peers regard anyone with a degree / professional job as posh or toffs (it’s ok, he’s been straightened out on that one now 😉
Calling someone an “engineer” for collecting the bins or repairing the fridge dismisses the value of calling someone an Engineer for designing and building our vital new infrastructure, or pioneering new and inventive technologies… 😡
When I have worked in Europe there has been considerable RESPECT given and received for a person’s qualifications and abilities.
Outside of the UK, qualifications like C Eng / C Geol (or PE and PG equivalents in N America) count for an awful lot, not just in career progression, but also in terms of ability to secure contracts and to secure Professional Indemnity insurance.
Rantette over 😀