Abstract
The graduate engineers’ attitude towards environmental issues differs profoundly from that of their fellow citizens. This is what we have found out when comparing the answers given by 27,000 graduates to an original survey we conducted in 2011 with those of a representative sample of French people who participated to the “European value survey”. The engineers’ attitude is also very different from those of business managers and executives. It also differs from those of other master’s degree graduates. Contrary to our expectations, the demographic change observed in the profession (growth, place of women, development of new educational tracks) has little influence on the professionals’ attitude. The engineers’ attitudes toward environmental issues seem to depend more on their professional position than on their individual traits. While the younger generation seems a little bit more pro-environment than their seniors, females do not differ significantly from their male colleagues on that topic. By contrast, we found out that the engineers’ attitude towards environment is strongly related to their attitude and values in general and their political, ethical and religious attitude in particular.
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Notes
- 1.
Adopted in 1976, le code was effective in 1977.
- 2.
This canon was proposed by the ASCE’s Environmental Impact Analysis Research Council, but not proposed to the Board of Directors because the Professional Activities Committee voted against (ASCE 2006).
- 3.
In October 2009, the ASCE Board of Direction adopted a new definition: “Sustainable Development is the process of applying natural, human, and economic resources to enhance the safety, welfare, and quality of life for all of society while maintaining the availability of the remaining natural resources”.
- 4.
Both expressions are translated by “code of ethics” in English, but the expression “code de déontologie” is usually reserved in France for a professional code which is legally binding.
- 5.
The average is calculated from the absolute differences.
- 6.
In the annual list published by the magazine L’Etudiant, the group of engineering schools called “A +” is composed mainly of Parisian very prestigious schools. They represent 18 % of the engineering students population.
- 7.
The question the respondents had to answer, was:“Here are three statements which people sometimes make when discussing good and evil. Which one comes closest to your own point of view? (1) There are absolutely clear guidelines about what is good and evil. These always apply to everyone, whatever the circumstances. (2) There can never be absolutely clear guidelines about what is good and evil (3) I disagree with both statements.”
- 8.
- 9.
The question the respondents had to answer, was:“I find that both freedom and equality are important. But if I were to choose one or the other: (1) I would consider personal freedom more important, that is, everyone can live in freedom and develop without hindrance (2) I would consider equality more important, that is, that nobody is underprivileged and that social class differences are not so strong; (3) I don’t know.”
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Didier, C., Talin, K. (2015). Engineer’s Ecoskepticism as an Ethical Problem. In: Christensen, S., Didier, C., Jamison, A., Meganck, M., Mitcham, C., Newberry, B. (eds) Engineering Identities, Epistemologies and Values. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16172-3_13
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