This thesis is concerned with the rise, development and present position of a particular professional group in Great Britain: the chartered engineers. The study is divided into four parts. Part one is an attempt to set up a framework within which moat professions can be studied. and provides the tools of analysis for the present study. The second. part briefly traces the history of the occupation from its earliest beginnings and contrasts the origins of the professional engineers in France and Great Britain. Of particular interest in this section is the emphasis placed by the nineteenth century British engineers on the 'practical' aspects of their occupation and their continued, neglect and rejection of its 'scientific' side. It was during the same century that the three major professional Institutions in engineering came into being and provide& a base for the future development of the profession. Part three is concerned with the education, training, recruitment and careers of a sample of chartered engineers who entered the profession in the present century. The educational and training routes leading to election and corporate membership in the professional Institutions are traced out and, the various factors which appear to determine the choice of a route by the chartered engineers are examined. The social and geographic origins, the family traditions, and the educational and training background of the sample are analysed. The effect of these factors upon the pattern of recruitment to the profession and upon the subsequent careers of the chartered. engineers are described. In the final part the study is summarized and the possible effects, upon the structure of the profession, of recent changes in the provisions for professional training and education are discussed