my employer calls me a software engineer. i disagree.

i think software engineering is a misnomer, not because what we do is materially different from what engineers do, but because we lack the professional and legal institutions engineers have. when a software developer can refuse to write unsafe code, whistleblow to an oversight agency, and be free from fear of retribution, then they can call themselves an engineer. when the legally enshrined organization pairs new grads with experienced mentors, with whom they must work for multiple years before they receive a government-recognized certification, then we can call what we do engineering. when we base technical decisions on scientific data instead of vibes and shoddy undergraduate studies. when our field reads and understands our own history instead of chasing vc whims and riding bubbles.

i spent a couple years in an engineering program at university. i have no misconceptions that "real" engineers are any more ethical than software developers. in my first year, we received a lecture on engineering ethics from a man who worked on weapons programs for the u.s. department of "defense", which disillusioned me from the entire discipline. but i still believe a better world is possible, and until software stops killing people we need to move slow and correct things.