A survey is conducted by the Engineering Workforce Commission (EWC) to determine the current levels of compensation for engineers and to study the trends over time periods particularly between 1996-1997. The EWC notes that for any specific combination of employment sector, supervisory responsibilities, education, and experience, variations between the high and low salaries of engineers can be very large. Data were gathered by the EWC from employers compiled from industry and trade directories and previous survey lists.