I just heard an anecdote by a woman engineer I work with and deeply respect and admire, who told me that at her first job, her manager told her NOT to ask questions unless she had done a lot of her own research first.

I couldn't help but remember my own first years as a fledgling engineer - fraught with insecurity and anxiety, always worried about making a fatal mistake. Admitting you had a question or didn't understand felt like a huge vulnerability being exposed. Knowing your peers could answer questions you had made you feel like you'd fallen behind somehow, even though you'd just started. 

The least favorite trait I see in engineers is this idea that the questions of juniors are somehow beneath you. The concept that it's a burden to be asked to help other solve smaller, less complex problems than what you would solve yourself. 

This thought process is pernicious. 

It damages new generations of engineers and ripples out into the future.