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Only Ties?

Former Community Member
Former Community Member
Hello,


Set off to the Rohde & Schwarz Demystifying EMC event this morning. Upon arrival at the Silverstone car park, I proceeded to get my IET tie out and promptly put it back in my bag after realizing I was not wearing a post Christmas shirt and the collar was a bit too tight to be kept fastened. That got me thinking along the lines of what else could be made available to fly the IET membership flag ..... and then it came to me, enamel lapel badges!


So how about adding them alongside ties?


Regards,


Jon


P.S. The Rohde & Schwarz event was very good!
Parents
  • 0
    When I joined the IET staff in early 2009, I continued to wear an ever changing selection of Ties that I had acquired having worn a Tie to work for the previous 25 years, from when I moved from being employed as a “Technician” to an “Engineer”, or “blue collar” to “white collar” of “industrial” to “staff”.  Arguably the Neck Tie was a sartorial symbol of professionalism and to some extent “status”.  I was of course given a Fellow’s Tie that I also often wore,  I still do occasionally, but mostly it is just the lapel pin.

     

    Over the subsequent years I have found that in many workplaces Ties have fallen from fashion, although they remain in common use for more senior levels of management or for sartorial purposes when people want to look “smart” or “polished”.  I feel now that in most situations eschewing a tie, projects a greater impression of informality, approachability and equality, which I want to cultivate. However I also want to feel reasonably smart. Having managed many people during their early career (I was a Company Training Manager) I realised that dressing more smartly and “making the effort” creates confidence, impresses others and produces better results. I’ll leave uniforms out of this for brevity.


        

    Two issues arise,

     

    Firstly; the more practical one of showing affiliation to the IET, which I’m sure many members would be proud to do. Perhaps lapel pins (plural because they are easy to lose) could be a standard issue item for members?


     

    Secondly;  in many workplaces the neck tie as a symbol of position and “status” has largely disappeared over the last decade or so. This is symbolic of changing social attitudes and workplace cultures which many professionals of my generation and older have perhaps been slow to embrace.  

     

    Especially amongst an upcoming generation of engineers and technicians, I often find them relatively unconcerned with “status symbols” and many organisations have intentionally downplayed some of the more traditional forms. However bodies representing professional engineers like ours have been slow to change and as the age profile of those in membership has grown, there is a disconnect with the young. It could be argued that The IET has been the most modernising, but as a whole the profession seems very “establishment” and “conservative” in nature.

     

    I’m using the humble neck-tie to make a “political” point here, but we must evolve a 21st century proposition not a 20th. Actually in the 19th Century, although society was more class based, it was possible to rise to great prominence and public esteem through achievement and the practical benefits that those achievements brought to society.  Can we find a way to recognise and value  achievement without denigrating others, it may not be our intention to do so, but it is obvious to see and to experience as an IEng for example. 

     

    I spend a lot of time trying to help members negotiate what for many of them feels like a minefield to gain professional registration.  I think it is valuable and important for us collectively to serve our fellow professionals through peer review (and support).  To do so more effectively, we must respect different types of “professional” contribution more equitably, not confine ourselves to just counting qualifications and promoting elitism on that basis.  For example, I have advocated for some time normalising regular and supportive professional review throughout career right from the start. Milestones and recognition such as professional registration should be an important part of this, but what is wrong with a narrative advisory report?       

     
    In 2017 a certain Golf Club was finally forced to allow Women in. Can we in 2018 chart a better course to offer a really positive proposition to those who might reasonably aspire to recognition as a professional engineer, or just rule many of them out as the “wrong sort” in their teens?                
Reply
  • 0
    When I joined the IET staff in early 2009, I continued to wear an ever changing selection of Ties that I had acquired having worn a Tie to work for the previous 25 years, from when I moved from being employed as a “Technician” to an “Engineer”, or “blue collar” to “white collar” of “industrial” to “staff”.  Arguably the Neck Tie was a sartorial symbol of professionalism and to some extent “status”.  I was of course given a Fellow’s Tie that I also often wore,  I still do occasionally, but mostly it is just the lapel pin.

     

    Over the subsequent years I have found that in many workplaces Ties have fallen from fashion, although they remain in common use for more senior levels of management or for sartorial purposes when people want to look “smart” or “polished”.  I feel now that in most situations eschewing a tie, projects a greater impression of informality, approachability and equality, which I want to cultivate. However I also want to feel reasonably smart. Having managed many people during their early career (I was a Company Training Manager) I realised that dressing more smartly and “making the effort” creates confidence, impresses others and produces better results. I’ll leave uniforms out of this for brevity.


        

    Two issues arise,

     

    Firstly; the more practical one of showing affiliation to the IET, which I’m sure many members would be proud to do. Perhaps lapel pins (plural because they are easy to lose) could be a standard issue item for members?


     

    Secondly;  in many workplaces the neck tie as a symbol of position and “status” has largely disappeared over the last decade or so. This is symbolic of changing social attitudes and workplace cultures which many professionals of my generation and older have perhaps been slow to embrace.  

     

    Especially amongst an upcoming generation of engineers and technicians, I often find them relatively unconcerned with “status symbols” and many organisations have intentionally downplayed some of the more traditional forms. However bodies representing professional engineers like ours have been slow to change and as the age profile of those in membership has grown, there is a disconnect with the young. It could be argued that The IET has been the most modernising, but as a whole the profession seems very “establishment” and “conservative” in nature.

     

    I’m using the humble neck-tie to make a “political” point here, but we must evolve a 21st century proposition not a 20th. Actually in the 19th Century, although society was more class based, it was possible to rise to great prominence and public esteem through achievement and the practical benefits that those achievements brought to society.  Can we find a way to recognise and value  achievement without denigrating others, it may not be our intention to do so, but it is obvious to see and to experience as an IEng for example. 

     

    I spend a lot of time trying to help members negotiate what for many of them feels like a minefield to gain professional registration.  I think it is valuable and important for us collectively to serve our fellow professionals through peer review (and support).  To do so more effectively, we must respect different types of “professional” contribution more equitably, not confine ourselves to just counting qualifications and promoting elitism on that basis.  For example, I have advocated for some time normalising regular and supportive professional review throughout career right from the start. Milestones and recognition such as professional registration should be an important part of this, but what is wrong with a narrative advisory report?       

     
    In 2017 a certain Golf Club was finally forced to allow Women in. Can we in 2018 chart a better course to offer a really positive proposition to those who might reasonably aspire to recognition as a professional engineer, or just rule many of them out as the “wrong sort” in their teens?                
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