I clicked around the PayScale and IMF pages and could not find how they define "Software Engineer". Is this the same as "Programmer" or "Software Developer"? These titles are quite broad in some places. For example where I sit now, we are all "programmers". However one of our programmers is a CPA + some other certs and spends as much time talking to accountants, lawyers, reading IRS notices as she does spec'ing out and developing software. Is she a "Software Engineer"? I spend most of my time fixing bugs and operating our software systems does that make me a "Software Engineer"? I program a lot sometimes but I'd hardly call what I do engineering. I'm in the U.S. and we don't have formal engineering accreditation for software.