to act on the personal ethical and moral convictions already held (Stappenbelt 2012). Naturally then,
the question arises regarding the ethical inclination
of engineering freshmen at the onset of their engineering education and what can be done to promote
and encourage further personal ethical development
as they progress with their studies, and later when
they start practicing in the industry after graduating.
The present study aims to assess the personal ethical perceptions of engineering students and practicing
engineers by examining their personal ethical beliefs
in light of the professional ethics requirements of the
EBK code.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Ethics is the philosophical discipline of studying what
contributes to good and bad conduct, including related
actions and values (Barry 1979). It is concerned with
the nature of specific decisions made and the goodness
or badness of those decisions in terms of the consequences of those decisions (Chonko 1995). Thompson
(2005) defines ethics as the study of right and wrong;
of the moral choices people make and how they seek
to justify them. In the engineering industry, engineers
are required to keep up with a fast-paced, constantly
changing environment, which makes it even more
important for engineers to be taught ethics and professionalism (Li & Fu 2012). Harris, Pritchard, Rabins,
James, and Englehardt (2013) mention that ethics
education in engineering programmes is important in
preparing the engineering undergraduate students – the
future engineers – to carry out their duties professionally with a sense of responsibility towards society and
the biosphere. Consequently, engineering ethics education has been made a compulsory subject as part
of the conditions for accreditation in many countries.
Despite its importance, ethics is not much investigated
in engineering education (Sethy 2017).
Engineering ethics is an important topic in the
engineering education curriculum therefore ‘professional ethics’ is offered as a compulsory course to
undergraduate engineering students in many countries
including India and Kenya. In teaching engineering ethics courses, various pedagogical approaches
have recorded a positive impact on students’ attitudes
towards ethics, opening up a new dimension in ethics
education which highlights the importance of teaching
strategies in developing the attitude towards engineering ethical issues (Balakrishnan, Azman, Indartono
2020). Therefore, it has been recommended that for
engineering institutions to “strengthen their students’
ethical development, they should consider tracking
students’ exposure to these issues, identifying where
and how this learning takes place” (Colby & Sullivan
2008).
Engineering solutions through design are humanity’s way of facing the continuous stream of various
global challenges (Barakat 2015). Design shares a
broadly common understanding of design ethics and
the main difference is in the scope, complexity, and
the human interface. However, certain phases of the
design process appear to prompt consideration of specific principles; students’ interactions with users and
project partners stimulate the most reflection on their
ethical decision-making (Humphries-Smith, Blount,
& Powell 2014).
The present study adopts Rest’s model that consists of four processes, namely moral awareness, moral
judgment making ability, moral intention, and moral
character (Rest 1986). In this study, the moral awareness process is very important as it triggers one’s
thought and cognition before one makes judgment and
the act is considered. According to the model, in the
awareness process, an individual generally has the ability to recognize that there is a moral issue in a situation,
which serves as a kind of an activating mechanism that
initiates the ethical decision-making process (Sparks
& Merenski 2000). Moral awareness involves an individual undertaking role-taking, but the person must
realize that violating some moral norm, or allowing
unethical situations to occur, can “affect the needs,
interest, welfare, and expectation of others.” However,
Rest (1986) asserts that not everyone can interpret situations or be sensitive to unethical situations. Thus, a
disparity exists in how sensitive an individual is to a
particular moral situation.
Codes of ethics are widely understood to act as
a mechanism for facilitating and ensuring ethical
behaviours within organizations (Yallop 2012). Codes
of ethics may be variously described as codes of conduct, codes of practice, ethical codes, corporate ethical
codes, ethical guidelines, business conduct, codes of
professional behaviour, operating principles, and so on
(Fisher 2001; Marnburg 2000). Internationally, several studies stress the importance of codes of ethics
as a necessary tool for creating and establishing an
ethical environment within organizations (Ferrell &
Skinner 1988; Hunt, Chonko, & Wilcox 1984; Oliver,
Kearins, & McGhee 2005; Schlegelmilch & Houston
1989; Segal & Giacobbe 2007; Ziegenfuss & Martinson 2002). Therefore, a code of ethics develops
standards by which a leader can judge the effects that
different behaviours have on one another (Hickman
1998). In summary, ethics comes down to a choice
to influence self-perception and others into doing the
right thing.
In the present study, a survey was used to measure how three sets of participants (first-year and final
(fifth) year engineering students, and practicing engineers) perceive their own ethical beliefs and how they
perceive the ethical beliefs and actions of their peers.
And after familiarization with the EBK code, respondents were also invited to comment regarding their
beliefs regarding adherence to the code.
3 METHODS
This study used a questionnaire to conduct a survey on the perception of personal ethical behaviour
4
the question arises regarding the ethical inclination
of engineering freshmen at the onset of their engineering education and what can be done to promote
and encourage further personal ethical development
as they progress with their studies, and later when
they start practicing in the industry after graduating.
The present study aims to assess the personal ethical perceptions of engineering students and practicing
engineers by examining their personal ethical beliefs
in light of the professional ethics requirements of the
EBK code.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Ethics is the philosophical discipline of studying what
contributes to good and bad conduct, including related
actions and values (Barry 1979). It is concerned with
the nature of specific decisions made and the goodness
or badness of those decisions in terms of the consequences of those decisions (Chonko 1995). Thompson
(2005) defines ethics as the study of right and wrong;
of the moral choices people make and how they seek
to justify them. In the engineering industry, engineers
are required to keep up with a fast-paced, constantly
changing environment, which makes it even more
important for engineers to be taught ethics and professionalism (Li & Fu 2012). Harris, Pritchard, Rabins,
James, and Englehardt (2013) mention that ethics
education in engineering programmes is important in
preparing the engineering undergraduate students – the
future engineers – to carry out their duties professionally with a sense of responsibility towards society and
the biosphere. Consequently, engineering ethics education has been made a compulsory subject as part
of the conditions for accreditation in many countries.
Despite its importance, ethics is not much investigated
in engineering education (Sethy 2017).
Engineering ethics is an important topic in the
engineering education curriculum therefore ‘professional ethics’ is offered as a compulsory course to
undergraduate engineering students in many countries
including India and Kenya. In teaching engineering ethics courses, various pedagogical approaches
have recorded a positive impact on students’ attitudes
towards ethics, opening up a new dimension in ethics
education which highlights the importance of teaching
strategies in developing the attitude towards engineering ethical issues (Balakrishnan, Azman, Indartono
2020). Therefore, it has been recommended that for
engineering institutions to “strengthen their students’
ethical development, they should consider tracking
students’ exposure to these issues, identifying where
and how this learning takes place” (Colby & Sullivan
2008).
Engineering solutions through design are humanity’s way of facing the continuous stream of various
global challenges (Barakat 2015). Design shares a
broadly common understanding of design ethics and
the main difference is in the scope, complexity, and
the human interface. However, certain phases of the
design process appear to prompt consideration of specific principles; students’ interactions with users and
project partners stimulate the most reflection on their
ethical decision-making (Humphries-Smith, Blount,
& Powell 2014).
The present study adopts Rest’s model that consists of four processes, namely moral awareness, moral
judgment making ability, moral intention, and moral
character (Rest 1986). In this study, the moral awareness process is very important as it triggers one’s
thought and cognition before one makes judgment and
the act is considered. According to the model, in the
awareness process, an individual generally has the ability to recognize that there is a moral issue in a situation,
which serves as a kind of an activating mechanism that
initiates the ethical decision-making process (Sparks
& Merenski 2000). Moral awareness involves an individual undertaking role-taking, but the person must
realize that violating some moral norm, or allowing
unethical situations to occur, can “affect the needs,
interest, welfare, and expectation of others.” However,
Rest (1986) asserts that not everyone can interpret situations or be sensitive to unethical situations. Thus, a
disparity exists in how sensitive an individual is to a
particular moral situation.
Codes of ethics are widely understood to act as
a mechanism for facilitating and ensuring ethical
behaviours within organizations (Yallop 2012). Codes
of ethics may be variously described as codes of conduct, codes of practice, ethical codes, corporate ethical
codes, ethical guidelines, business conduct, codes of
professional behaviour, operating principles, and so on
(Fisher 2001; Marnburg 2000). Internationally, several studies stress the importance of codes of ethics
as a necessary tool for creating and establishing an
ethical environment within organizations (Ferrell &
Skinner 1988; Hunt, Chonko, & Wilcox 1984; Oliver,
Kearins, & McGhee 2005; Schlegelmilch & Houston
1989; Segal & Giacobbe 2007; Ziegenfuss & Martinson 2002). Therefore, a code of ethics develops
standards by which a leader can judge the effects that
different behaviours have on one another (Hickman
1998). In summary, ethics comes down to a choice
to influence self-perception and others into doing the
right thing.
In the present study, a survey was used to measure how three sets of participants (first-year and final
(fifth) year engineering students, and practicing engineers) perceive their own ethical beliefs and how they
perceive the ethical beliefs and actions of their peers.
And after familiarization with the EBK code, respondents were also invited to comment regarding their
beliefs regarding adherence to the code.
3 METHODS
This study used a questionnaire to conduct a survey on the perception of personal ethical behaviour
4