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EngX Editorial
3 minute read time.

The latest Ipsos Veracity Index, now in its 28th year, offers a fascinating snapshot of public trust across Britain’s professions. For engineers (and those who champion the profession) there’s good news! Engineers remain among the most trusted professionals in the country. But the broader picture reveals some striking shifts that are worth exploring, especially for a community like ours that values integrity, innovation, and public confidence.

Engineers: A Pillar of Trust

Once again, engineers feature in the top tier of trusted professions, alongside nurses, doctors, teachers, and professors. This consistency speaks volumes about the profession’s reputation for honesty and reliability. In an era where misinformation and scepticism dominate headlines, the engineering profession continues to inspire confidence.

Why does this matter? Trust is the foundation of influence. Whether we’re designing infrastructure, developing sustainable technologies, or shaping the future of AI, public confidence in engineers ensures that our work is respected and our voices heard in policy and societal debates.

The Bigger Picture: Who Do We Trust?

The Veracity Index ranks 28 professions based on how much the British public trusts them to tell the truth. Here are some key highlights:

  • Top five trusted professions: Nurses lead the pack, followed by engineers, doctors, teachers, and professors.
  • Historians and Artists debut strongly: New entrants this year include historians (trusted by 79%) and artists (73%), both landing in the top ten.
  • Social Media Influencers hit rock bottom: Added for the first time, influencers scored just 6%, making them the least trusted profession ever recorded since the index began in 1983.

This last point is particularly interesting. Despite their low trust score, Ipsos notes that 15% of Britons and 25% of 16–34-year-olds get news from influencers daily. It’s a paradox. People rely on influencers for information but don’t trust them to tell the truth. For engineers, this raises questions about how we communicate technical knowledge in a digital age dominated by personalities rather than expertise.

Declines in Trust: A Warning Sign

While engineers remain trusted, other professions have seen significant drops:

  • Police: Down 11 points to 51%, the lowest since the survey began.
  • Local Councillors: Down 10 points to 30%, equalling their previous low.
  • Clergy: Down eight points to 55%.

These shifts suggest a broader erosion of trust in institutions and authority figures. For engineers working in public projects or policy roles, this trend underscores the importance of transparency and community engagement.

What Does This Mean for Engineers?

For the IET EngX community, these findings are both reassuring and challenging. Reassuring because engineers continue to enjoy high levels of trust, reinforcing our role as credible voices in debates about technology, sustainability, and infrastructure, and challenging because the broader decline in trust across professions signals a fragile environment. Public confidence can’t be taken for granted, it must be earned and maintained through openness, ethical practice, and clear communication.

The Communication Challenge

The rise of influencers, despite their low trust score, highlights a critical issue: reach versus credibility. Engineers may be trusted, but are we visible? Are we engaging effectively on platforms where younger audiences consume information?

This is where online communities like EngX play a vital role. By sharing insights, discussing innovations, and demystifying complex topics, we can bridge the gap between expertise and accessibility. Imagine if engineers became the go-to voices for accurate, engaging content on renewable energy, AI ethics, or smart infrastructure, topics that influencers often oversimplify.

Looking Ahead: Building on Trust

So, how do we maintain and grow this trust? Here are some ideas for our community:

  • Champion Transparency: Share not just successes but challenges. Authenticity builds credibility.
  • Engage Beyond the Echo Chamber: Participate in conversations on EngX as well as other social platforms, podcasts, and webinars to reach wider audiences.
  • Mentor and Educate: Use EngX to support early-career engineers and students, reinforcing the profession’s values.
  • Collaborate Across Disciplines: Work with historians, artists, and educators (professions that also rank highly) to tell compelling stories about engineering’s impact.

Join the Conversation

What do you think about these findings?

  • Why do engineers continue to rank so highly in trust?
  • How can we leverage this trust to influence positive change?
  • Should engineers play a bigger role in online spaces dominated by influencers?

Share your thoughts in the comments below and let’s explore how we can turn trust into action. 

  • Thank you for sharing the analysis of the Ipsos Veracity Index and its implications for the engineering profession. The article rightly highlights the strong trust engineers enjoy, which is encouraging. However, I’d like to add a technical perspective and some critical considerations:

    1. Trust vs. Visibility
      While engineers rank highly in trust, the article does not address the gap between credibility and reach. In technical domains like renewable energy, AI ethics, and infrastructure resilience, misinformation can spread rapidly through influencers and non-experts. Engineers need structured strategies for digital engagement, including simplified technical communication without compromising accuracy.

    2. Impact on Policy and Standards
      Trust is valuable only if leveraged effectively. The article could explore how this trust translates into influence on regulatory frameworks, safety standards, and sustainability policies. Engineers should actively participate in consultations and public forums to ensure technical rigor in decision-making.

    3. Risk of Complacency
      High trust scores can create a false sense of security. The broader decline in trust for institutions signals that engineering could face similar challenges if transparency and ethical practices are not continuously reinforced—especially in areas like AI, cybersecurity, and energy transition where societal impact is high.

    4. Competency in Digital Communication
      The rise of influencers, despite low trust, highlights a systemic issue: engineers often lack presence on platforms where technical narratives are shaped. The article suggests engagement but does not address the need for training engineers in science communication and digital literacy to counter misinformation effectively.

    5. Collaboration Beyond Engineering
      While collaboration with historians and artists is mentioned, the technical rationale for such partnerships could be stronger. Interdisciplinary storytelling can humanize complex engineering solutions, but it requires frameworks for accuracy and context to avoid oversimplification.

    In summary, the article provides an excellent overview of trust dynamics but could go deeper into actionable strategies for engineers to maintain credibility while enhancing visibility in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

  • This sounds great until you put it in the context, that being an Engineer is not well understood by the general public - something that has been an issue for decades through the drive to professionalise engineering. For many of the general public, an engineer is someone who fixes their car. We can bathe in the good feeling, or we can put it in context that we may not be the engineer that they are thinking of, and we should always put public perception in the context of public understanding as well.

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