Difference in attitude comes from the origin of the term. Here in the UK, an engineer is the guy that works on, usually dirty oily, engines. The French and German word for an engineer is "ingenieur", because they are ingenious. On the continent it is a respected qualification and career. Over here, anyone can be called that, because the general populace has no respect for what they perceive to be a dirty job.
I've been in my current job for about 13 years. Optics manufacturing and our parent company is Germany. Say what you like about Germans buy my Christ they don't faff about when it comes to job titles and tolerating con artists. Any contractor we have in here had to supply a copy of their trade papers before they opened the van.