Technical and management notes: Difference between engineers and scientists

Engineers and scientists exhibit important differences other than the evident differences in degree discipline and type of work activity. For example, most engineers recognize managerial authority, want challenging assignments, and are employer-oriented. Scientists, however, respect “colleague” authority, want freedom to select projects, and are career-oriented. Most behavioral differences are found to be functions of the work environment; thus the challenge to management is to understand how the engineer or scientist perceives his environment.