Ethical Attitudes Among Engineering Students: Some Preliminary Insights

Abstract

There is a rising interest in engineering ethics education. As research in this field shows, the most common reasons for that are rather formal implying to satisfaction of accreditation requirements and complying with the recommendations of a disciplinary professional association. Resistance to notions such as professional judgment and the absence of any substantial reference to engineering ethics in general conversations about educational decision-making and governance is also witnessed. Teaching engineering ethics to students could be considered a crucial course that builds the necessary basis so that engineering students can develop better, i.e. more sustainable and responsible, technological solutions to societal challenges. At the same time, we do not have much information or many studies about the actual beliefs or ethics attitudes of future engineers and methods of influencing their attitudes concerning challenges related to sustainable development. The purpose of the study is twofold, we 1) explore the ethics and sustainability attitudes of engineering students and 2) make preliminary proposals for the betterment of engineering ethics teaching. Our study shows that shaping attitudes and behavioural intention towards certain values, for example towards sustainability, needs clearer manifestation in societies in general, as well as in professional communities.