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What is Fellowship?

Alex Barrett
I'm not sure which forum this belongs in, this seems to be the closest?


A question, what is Fellowship in the context of the IET? Is it the recognition by the profession of somebody who stands out in their field, their profession and in general as an engineer and character? Or is it just a "supersize" membership.

As the only route to Fellowship of the IET seems to be by applying on your own behalf, it looks like the latter. There doesn't seem to be any scope for recognising those engineers who really do stand out, but aren't self-seeking enough to look for recognition. I know personally some engineers who in my opinion are natural Fellows but would never put themselves forward for this recognition.
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    One of the benefits of these forums as I see them, is the potential for members to contribute ideas and Alex has posed an important question. One that might otherwise only likely to be discussed by the Fellowship Policy Committee which is governed by the Membership and Professional Development Board.

    The glib answer is that Fellowship is whatever IET Members want it to be. The current criteria have evolved following the merger of 2006 and are independent of any professional registration. Although the subscription rates for Fellows are slightly higher, the amount involved in the context of IET income overall, is a minor factor.

    Perhaps it would be useful to gather constructive feedback from members active here, albeit this may not be a representative sample. I see the forums as an equally valid form of activism by those either unable to attend meetings or otherwise express opinion.  

    I became a Fellow of my IET predecessor institution, when they wrote to me noting that I seemed to be potentially eligible under their criteria. The requirement from memory was a minimum of 5 years as a registered engineer with significant management responsibility. I was 35 years old, spend a few more pounds, felt more valued and it reinforced my commitment to the professional engineering community at a time when I might have dropped out, as my career was becoming less technically focussed.               

    When I first became much more closely involved with the IET, I asked out of curiosity about the proportion of Fellows drawn from the different professional registration categories. I was given some figures from 2008 which were 6848 CEng, 1527 IEng, 7 Eng Tech and 1703 non-registrants. I don’t have the current figures and I don’t think such a breakdown would help this discussion. Although when I have seen figures, new IEng Fellows have become a very rare sight indeed. As I mentioned earlier Fellowship has not been linked to Engineering Council registration for a long-time, so this is just a historical observation.  

    I was involved in a discussion a few years ago with some of our Fellows who were bemoaning the tactics of a “rival” institution in setting a “lower bar” for their Fellowship. That difference being Lieutenant Colonel rather than Colonel (or other military equivalent).  So if we see Fellowship in a “competitive” context, our concerns are likely to be around maintaining a “high bar”. If we chose to adopt the pro-active approach that I experienced years ago, then the priority might be to move more members into Fellowship.

    I’m tempted to adopt JFK’s maxim of “ask not what your institution can do for you, but what you can do for your institution” in matters related to Fellowship. Also having experienced a situation when someone who I supported for Fellowship had their hopes dashed (a 30+ year CEng) a few years ago, I am sympathetic to any concerns. I’m sure that the chair and members of the Fellowship Policy Committee would be willing to listen to anything constructive
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  • 0
    One of the benefits of these forums as I see them, is the potential for members to contribute ideas and Alex has posed an important question. One that might otherwise only likely to be discussed by the Fellowship Policy Committee which is governed by the Membership and Professional Development Board.

    The glib answer is that Fellowship is whatever IET Members want it to be. The current criteria have evolved following the merger of 2006 and are independent of any professional registration. Although the subscription rates for Fellows are slightly higher, the amount involved in the context of IET income overall, is a minor factor.

    Perhaps it would be useful to gather constructive feedback from members active here, albeit this may not be a representative sample. I see the forums as an equally valid form of activism by those either unable to attend meetings or otherwise express opinion.  

    I became a Fellow of my IET predecessor institution, when they wrote to me noting that I seemed to be potentially eligible under their criteria. The requirement from memory was a minimum of 5 years as a registered engineer with significant management responsibility. I was 35 years old, spend a few more pounds, felt more valued and it reinforced my commitment to the professional engineering community at a time when I might have dropped out, as my career was becoming less technically focussed.               

    When I first became much more closely involved with the IET, I asked out of curiosity about the proportion of Fellows drawn from the different professional registration categories. I was given some figures from 2008 which were 6848 CEng, 1527 IEng, 7 Eng Tech and 1703 non-registrants. I don’t have the current figures and I don’t think such a breakdown would help this discussion. Although when I have seen figures, new IEng Fellows have become a very rare sight indeed. As I mentioned earlier Fellowship has not been linked to Engineering Council registration for a long-time, so this is just a historical observation.  

    I was involved in a discussion a few years ago with some of our Fellows who were bemoaning the tactics of a “rival” institution in setting a “lower bar” for their Fellowship. That difference being Lieutenant Colonel rather than Colonel (or other military equivalent).  So if we see Fellowship in a “competitive” context, our concerns are likely to be around maintaining a “high bar”. If we chose to adopt the pro-active approach that I experienced years ago, then the priority might be to move more members into Fellowship.

    I’m tempted to adopt JFK’s maxim of “ask not what your institution can do for you, but what you can do for your institution” in matters related to Fellowship. Also having experienced a situation when someone who I supported for Fellowship had their hopes dashed (a 30+ year CEng) a few years ago, I am sympathetic to any concerns. I’m sure that the chair and members of the Fellowship Policy Committee would be willing to listen to anything constructive
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