Engineers are second most trusted profession

UK: Almost nine in 10 people in Britain trust engineers to tell them the truth, beaten only by nurses, a new survey reveals.

Out of a list of 30 different professions, engineers are the second most trusted in Great Britain –  according to the latest Veracity Index from Ipsos – up from sixth place (with a score of 84%) in 2021.

The profession, which makes up 19% of the UK workforce, is trusted to tell the truth by 87% of the population, closely following nurses on 89% and moving ahead of doctors, teachers and museum curators this year to achieve its highest ever ranking since engineering was first included in the survey in 2018. 

Engineers have recorded similar levels of trust in previous years, including a score of 89% in 2020.

Trust in engineers is equal across genders, with just a one percentage point difference between men and women. Despite this, only 16.5% of engineers and technicians identify as women.

Professor Bob Cryan CBE, IET president, said: “Engineers play a central role in everyday life, contributing to advancing the world around us and finding solutions to global challenges such as climate change. It’s fantastic to see that nearly 9 in 10 people trust engineers – this demonstrates the huge level of professionalism and importance of engineers in the UK.

“This recognition of trust by the public is a welcome boost to all those in industry, academia and our communities working together to address the shortfalls in engineer numbers faced across the UK by encouraging the next generation of talent, as engineering continues to be a vital profession across the world.”

Journalists are near the bottom of the trust league, with a score of 29%, just ahead of estate agents (28%), government ministers (16%), advertising executives (14%) and politicians (12%).

So there’s a dichotomy. As this was written by a journalist, should you believe it?