Every year lakhs of Indian students apply for admission to engineering colleges. And a large majority of graduating engineers apply for admission to business schools.
It is as if the realities of yesteryears, when medical and engineering careers used to be the top two priorities, has not entirely rubbed off but has been slightly modified. With more and more engineering graduates turning towards managerial careers, it is no wonder that some of the top Bschools, such as IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta, have more than 90% MBA students with engineering backgrounds.
What is the reason for the same? Are engineers not excited about a technical career anymore, or is it the demand of the workplace that drives them towards management careers?
Vijay Mhaskar, Vice President, Information Management Group, Symantec elaborates the job market situation. "With increased pace of innovation and global competition, technical talent in India has been groomed to meet the requirements of global coordination and collaboration.
The demand for managing large scale projects required technical talent to take on the role of project managers. This eventually led to the need for management skills and people were hired for their technical knowledge coupled with management skills. The Indian software industry, for instance, has witnessed a tremendous evolution - from piece-meal development to complete product ownership."
While engineers have shown an increasing preference for managerial roles, at the same time the need for technical expertise has not diminished. In fact, it has increase further as countries, including India, are realising the importance of developing innovative engineering solutions indigenously.
For this reason, engineering talent must not completely be devoted to managerial positions. "The industry requires both - technical and management talent. In order to encourage engineers to follow their passion for technology through a career on the technology side an eco-system needs to be established.
From the colleges where engineers learn, to the software firms where they put learning to practice, should provide guidance that moving to the management track is not a default option. With great compensation in technical profiles, engineers can pursue careers without giving up their passion for technology," adds Mhaskar.
The other side of this debate is that engineers who turn into managers and leaders in organisations need not completely give up their technical creativities. Often, it can be a mix of both. A high ranking manager can also be a technology expert. This is the exact basis of Symantec's Techtracs programme, in which they encourage and build upon technical talent of engineers. In this programme, they have very senior positions for Distinguished Engineers and Fellows, apart from Senior Technical Directors.
Mentoring and guidance, whether for a managerial or a technology based career, is a critical success component. An engineer, who is capable of giving an organisation or a country the next breakthrough in technology or in an architectural design, should not be wasted on a pure management role.
At the same time, one cannot follow a deterrent approach where you stop them from completely moving to management. Instead, it should come more as an encouragement to pursue engineering roles. Higher designations and pay packages is only one side of the coin. Engineers will only be truly engineers when they are in it for the love of it.
It is as if the realities of yesteryears, when medical and engineering careers used to be the top two priorities, has not entirely rubbed off but has been slightly modified. With more and more engineering graduates turning towards managerial careers, it is no wonder that some of the top Bschools, such as IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta, have more than 90% MBA students with engineering backgrounds.
What is the reason for the same? Are engineers not excited about a technical career anymore, or is it the demand of the workplace that drives them towards management careers?
Vijay Mhaskar, Vice President, Information Management Group, Symantec elaborates the job market situation. "With increased pace of innovation and global competition, technical talent in India has been groomed to meet the requirements of global coordination and collaboration.
The demand for managing large scale projects required technical talent to take on the role of project managers. This eventually led to the need for management skills and people were hired for their technical knowledge coupled with management skills. The Indian software industry, for instance, has witnessed a tremendous evolution - from piece-meal development to complete product ownership."
While engineers have shown an increasing preference for managerial roles, at the same time the need for technical expertise has not diminished. In fact, it has increase further as countries, including India, are realising the importance of developing innovative engineering solutions indigenously.
For this reason, engineering talent must not completely be devoted to managerial positions. "The industry requires both - technical and management talent. In order to encourage engineers to follow their passion for technology through a career on the technology side an eco-system needs to be established.
From the colleges where engineers learn, to the software firms where they put learning to practice, should provide guidance that moving to the management track is not a default option. With great compensation in technical profiles, engineers can pursue careers without giving up their passion for technology," adds Mhaskar.
The other side of this debate is that engineers who turn into managers and leaders in organisations need not completely give up their technical creativities. Often, it can be a mix of both. A high ranking manager can also be a technology expert. This is the exact basis of Symantec's Techtracs programme, in which they encourage and build upon technical talent of engineers. In this programme, they have very senior positions for Distinguished Engineers and Fellows, apart from Senior Technical Directors.
Mentoring and guidance, whether for a managerial or a technology based career, is a critical success component. An engineer, who is capable of giving an organisation or a country the next breakthrough in technology or in an architectural design, should not be wasted on a pure management role.
At the same time, one cannot follow a deterrent approach where you stop them from completely moving to management. Instead, it should come more as an encouragement to pursue engineering roles. Higher designations and pay packages is only one side of the coin. Engineers will only be truly engineers when they are in it for the love of it.
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