I've always been uncomfortable calling myself a "software engineer" for this reason, and usually refer to myself as a "software developer". Most of the job listings I see at various companies use "engineer" though, and so my official title ends up being "engineer", so that's what I end up putting on my resume. (Though I guess I don't really need to do that; I could put whatever I want.)
I am a Software Engineer. I'm licensed by our provincial body and have my P.Eng. and yeah, I still agree with you.
I've been asked why I got my P.Eng as it does nothing for me career wise, but I always have the hope that we move towards a profession that does utilize engineers with proper accreditation and responsibilities where appropriate. I work in Industrial Controls and what my job has me doing does have safety concerns. We fired a student at one point working for us because his attitude towards the work was lackluster and lazy. I see it often enough in programs I'm asked to pick up and fix too.
If Software Engineering wants respect, the profession needs to accept that we're going to piss off a lot of Developers & Architects using the title incorrectly. We still need to develop the proper rigor to take Engineering as a discipline seriously, but we also don't need to apply "Engineers" to every job.
