Having read this thread with a vested interest and with no axe to grind at all I would like to state a few points as we as engineers see things within the industry.
Having any form of qualifacation is an achievement on its own but the aviation industry runs along totally different lines and formats to any other industry you will find.
As engineers who are responsible to our employers,passengers,crew and the authorities who regulate this business.Some of us are granted licences to perform and CERTIFY the work carried out on our aircraft to allow the pilot to fly the said aircraft safely from point A to B.
These Licences are probably one of the hardest qualifacations to obtain in any enviroment and not only are academic but also rely on hands on knowledge and experiance to gain.
My question is why should someone who has done a few extra years at school be given management status?
Is the industry saying that these qualifacations are higher than the safety related licence bearing in mind the now present situation with the JAR66 C licence and degree holders?
When will our lords and masters finally recognise that the engineers licence (of which the number is now reducing thanks to JAR66) is a highly professional qualifacation of which takes on an awful amount of responsibility and should be treated as such but normally isn't.
At the end of the day by all means go and gain the qualifacation that allow letters to be placed after your name but dont expect to be given senior posts within this industry because of them.
There are a dwidling number of very professional experianced and highly qualified persons who work very hard under normally difficult circumstances who very rarely ever get the appreciation they deserve and who's standing is barely recognised because they are not members of the right society or don't have letters after there name, but without the WHOLE AVIATION INDUSTRY WOULD STOP! The pilot can only fly it until it breaks then he requires someone to repair it and LEGALLY RELEASE/CERTIFY the work performed to allow the thing to go again.
Not a lot of the general public are aware of this as it is not seen every day.