7 Myths About Engineering That People Need To Stop Believing

These days, engineering has become one of the most popular career options for students. So naturally, a lot of discussion happens around it – which stream to choose, which college is better, etc. Most of the times, our conversations revolve around certain myths which are obviously not true.

1. Chemical engineering is all about chemistry.

No, it’s not. Chemical Engineering is the branch of engineering that combines the knowledge of chemistry, physics, mathematics, economics and other disciplines. Chemical engineers can get a job across fields and not just limited to research and forensics.

2. Mechanical engineering is not for girls.

Wrong. We all know that mechanical engineering has one of the lowest female to male ratio compared to other engineering programmes. When someone mentions mechanical engineering, the first image that pops up in people’s minds is ‘a mechanic in a shop, with greasy fingers’, but this isn’t true.

3. Mechanical engineers do not get jobs in software companies.

This isn’t true. While the study of mechanical engineering does involve workshops and learning fabrication jobs, this isn’t everything a mechanical engineer does. Most of their practical work involves sitting in front of the computer, either doing simulation or computer-aided design (CAD) drawings and programming.

4. There’s no difference in Computer Science and Information Technology streams.

They are different. The major difference between both these field is that IT deals with the application of computing technology to real life processes, while Computer Science deals with the facilitaion of these applications. Put simply, Computer Science is the creation of software and hardware by using different programming skills.

As far as career prospects are concerned, both IT and CS engineering graduates can apply for the same jobs because at the job level it all boils down to experience.

5. The stream you choose will decide your career.

Not always. There have been instances of people changing streams after their first year of college. You can also gain practical experience in another field through internships and pursue it as your career.

6. All IIT graduates get high salary packages.

Many people tend to believe that an engineering degree from IITs will get them a high-paying job as soon as they graduate. This is not true though. Not every company out there is ready to shell out seven-figure or a handsome six-figure annual salary package. So you might have to start with a average package.

7. There’s little or no scope of a good career in Pure Sciences branches.

The glamour of software jobs is such that students believe they wouldn’t get a good job if they choose pure sciences like Physics, Chemistry or Maths. If you are more inclined towards research, it makes sense to choose pure sciences in IISc, IISER, or even in IITs.