Is software engineering really engineering?

The author argues that software engineering fits in the craft stage of the engineering evolutionary cycle. What is required is the software engineering theories need to be developed. This raises the question as to whether current research in software engineering is designed to assist in formulating these theories. Our research should place more emphasis on formulating models, based on scientific principles wherever possible, and validating these models. Current research is too often based on statistical analysis of data without sufficient underlying theory. Only when we adopt such an approach will software engineering enter into the twentieth century of engineering.