Star Trek'' television shows and movies. This is much more glamorous than the real life of an engineer, which consists of hiding from the universe and having sex without the participation of other life forms. Consequently, ratings for ''Star Trek'' will remain high as long as they stay away from any realism. Dating is never easy for engineers. A normal person will employ various indirect and duplicitous methods to create a false impression of attractiveness.
Engineers are incapable of placing appearance above function.
For society, it's probably a good thing that engineers value function over appearance. For example, you wouldn't want engineers to build nuclear power plants that only look like they would keep all the radiation inside. You have to consider the global perspective. But the engineer's emphasis on function over form is a big disadvantage for dating, where the goal is to act phony until the other person loves you for the person that you are. Engineers don't like to make small talk because no useful information is exchanged.