Global Engineering Ethics: What? Why? How? and When?

Even though engineering programs, accreditation bodies, and multinational corporations have become increasingly interested in introducing global dimensions into professional engineering practice, little work in the existing literature provides an overview of questions fundamental to global engineering ethics, such as what global engineering ethics is, why it should be taught, how it should be taught, and when it should be introduced. This paper describes the what, why, how, and when of global engineering ethics – a form adopted from a 1996 article by Charles Harris, Michael Davis, Michael Pritchard, and Michael Rabins, which has influenced the development of engineering ethics for over twenty-five years. First, this paper describes global engineering ethics as a response to the increasingly cross-cultural, international characteristics of contemporary engineering, as well as four fundamental approaches to conceive and deliver this training (what). Next, it explains the motivations for global engineering ethics: Neither educators nor practitioners can necessarily assume a shared nationality or culture among students or between coworkers (why). Third, this paper discusses how global engineering ethics should be taught: One of the most prevalent approaches uses case studies with a cross-cultural and/or international dimension (how). Finally, it identifies spots within curricula for global engineering ethics: standalone courses, integrated modules, micro-insertions, competence-based training scenarios, and extracurricular activities (when). As the world becomes ever more cross-cultural and international, training in global ethics will be essential for both students and practicing engineers

Exploring the Constitutive and Social Processes of Ethics in Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Teams

This study seeks to examine the communicative constitution of ethics in team-based design projects in an engineering education context. Engineering and design work involve complex social processes and ethical decision-making activities and collaboration (Bucciarelli, 2010). The understanding and development of ethics in future engineers is a primary concern for engineering educators, students, and the governing bodies that oversee this field (ABET, 2013; NAE, 2012). Specifically, given the highly fluid and subjective nature of ethics and the complications of the team-based context, challenges arise about how to move beyond codes and standards that are intended to guide ethical conduct (ASEE, 2012; NSPE, 2011) and encourage ethical orientations in future engineers that may help them guide themselves

Ethical Tech Innovation: Uniting Educational Initiatives and Professional Practice

This Knowledge Synthesis Report, “Ethical Tech Innovation: Uniting Educational Initiatives and Professional Practice,” is co-funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Government of Canada’s Future Skills program.Engineers and other workers at the forefront of technological innovation play a central role in shaping the future of our digital economy, and the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed with stark clarity the urgent need for ethical conversations about the ways technologies are developed and integrated into society. However, there is inadequate understanding about effective methods for integrating ethical training in engineering academia, both in terms of the types of training required and how best to implement this training within existing engineering programs. This neglect poses significant challenges for the engineering profession, particularly since it makes it difficult for educators to effectively deliver and assess ethical training. Going beyond engineering, the consequences of this lack are significant: perpetuating technological bias and inequities, environmental degradation, and a culture that is apathetic to the impacts of technological innovation. This Knowledge Synthesis report, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), responds to this gap in two ways: summarising preliminary findings of a literature review from the past ten years to identify recent knowledge and gaps on effective approaches to embedding ethics in the tech industry; and, synthesizing results of semi-structured interviews with 10 key industry leaders and experts about the need for and barriers of ethics training in engineering. Recommendations for academia, industry, and government are provided to cultivate ethical interventions in academia and industry teaching and training. While the literature presents a great deal of exemplary efforts to grow and embed ethics training, our analysis finds that the status of these efforts in engineering disciplines remain sporadic, transitory, and idiosyncratic. This report therefore aims to empower engineers, engineering educators, administrators, industry professionals, policymakers, and even members of the public to develop new ways to prioritize and embed robust frameworks for ethical thinking in tech sector and engineering culture more broadly.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada || Canada's Future Skills Progra