Are Chinese Engineers in the Same Profession as Western Engineers? A Research Agenda

Abstract

The integration of global scientific and technological innovation has brought new opportunities for technical advancement to many fields of engineering. It has also raised difficult questions about the relationship between national cultures and international standards—for example, whether the professional ethics of Chinese engineers are the same as (or similar enough to) the professional ethics of engineers in the West. There are two main positions: first, the majority view, that national culture trumps international standards (where the two differ); second, the minority view, that international standards—especially, engineering codes of ethics—trump national standards (where the two differ). Focusing on China, this chapter compares the evidence for these views. We conclude that the minority view has the stronger case. This evidence and these claims are related to a broader, interdisciplinary research agenda, assessing claims within engineering ethics using empirical research findings and methods.

摘要：全球科技创新的整合为众多工程领域的技术进步带来了机遇。同时，它也在国家文化与国际标准之间的关系方面带来了诸多难题。例如，中国工程师的职业伦理是否等同于（或近似于）西方工程师的职业伦理。目前有两种主要观点：第一，大多数人的观点认为，国家文化优先于国际标准（在两者不同的情况下）；第二，少数人的观点认为，国际标准，尤其是工程伦理章程，在两者不同的情况下优先于国家标准。本章以中国为例，比较了支持这两种不同观点的相关证据。由此我们得出结论，少数派的观点更有说服力。这些证据和主张与一项更广泛的跨学科研究议程有关，即如何用经验研究和方法来评估工程伦理领域的相关观点。