Part of the problem is the concept that programming is "engineering". It explicitly is not, it doesn't have a defined set of criteria for evaluating design or ensuring results.

"Doing Agile" doesn't qualify as "engineering", CMMI level <5 isn't engineering. Even CMMI level 5 is only engineering in a very small domain. Most shops claiming CMMI level 5 are only qualified in one particular aspect of software development.

So we're still in the "master/apprentice" and "journeyman guild" days of our profession. But Universities and Colleges are desperate to sell their 4 year "software engineering" degrees, so cover up the lack of rigor with a mountain of bullshit.

So the first step to really establish software development as an engineering discipline is to stop fooling ourselves. Being able to "refactor my FactoryManagerFactory class" is not engineering.

When a programmer has to sign off and take liability for any failures like a PE does on a bridge is when we'll be able to say we are "engineers" with a straight face.