I feel not only engineering, but all types of professions are losing values. People now seem to be less crazy in getting into med or law schools as the wages of such jobs are not as attractive as they used to be. Even during the dot.com boom, what the people could benefit from is the rising stock prices. I feel the idea of the Rich Dad/Poor dad is right. We should become investors instead of employee!
I don't know about medicine or engineering, but there are still PLENTY of law school applicants. And the fact is, the Bar continues to provide employment to a large majority of law graduates. There have been gloom and doom predictions about the over production of new J.D.s since before I started law school in the early eighties. It still hasn't materialized (though there ARE particular markets that appear to be saturated.) But there are fewer than 190 accredited law schools in the U.S. for a population approaching 300 million. There are THOUSANDS of engineering and business schools out there.
I'm not a Doctor (and I don't even play one on TV) but I've spent the better part of the last 20 years working in hospitals so you pick up a few things. Medicine continues to be a good career but it is very different than it was 25 years ago. The restrictions placed on MDs by insurance companies is a huge factor now. Costs for medical school have skyrocketed and liability insurance costs have gone through the roof. The result is that your average MD (not a high powered specialist at a big name teaching hospital) doesn't really make that much money anymore. When you factor in the 24-7 on-call stuff it seems that many people are are saying "No thanks." I've been told that those who are disposed toward medical sciences are now looking at genetic engineering careers as the sexy new thing. At the same time, those who actually go to medical school (now more than 50% female) are opting for specialties like Dermatology (not many emergency calls in that particular field) Jack
