Ethics and professionalism

Why learn professional ethics?

Professional ethics v/s Personal morality
Your individual personal morality is not being re-
questioned
These two concepts are not necessarily the same
The trend is that professional ethics
increasingly requires engineers to protect the
environment, regardless of their personal
moral convictions.
 What is ethics?
Moral principles that govern a persons
behaviour or the conducting of an activity

Source: Oxford Dictionary

 Ethics school of thoughts
Schools of ethics in Western philosophy can be divided,
very roughly, into three sorts.
Aristotle - virtues (such as justice, charity, and generosity)
are dispositions to act in ways that benefit both the person
possessing them and that persons society.
Kant - the concept of duty central to morality: humans are
bound, from a knowledge of their duty as rational beings,
to obey the categorical imperative to respect other
rational beings.
Utiliarianism - the guiding principle of conduct should be
the greatest happiness or benefit of the greatest number
 What is a profession?
the occupation which one professes to be skilled
in and to follow. . . .A vocation in which
professed knowledge of some branch of learning
is used in its application to the affairs of others,
or in the practice of an art based upon it.

Source: Oxford Shorter Dictionary

 What is professionalism?

The competence or skill expected of a

professional
The practice of an activity by professional rather
than amateur players

Source: Oxford Dictionary

 Characteristics of a professional
occupation
1) Extensive training
2) Vital knowledge and skills:
sophisticated scientific and technological base
technological advances on which our material
civilization rests
Remember: professional services are vital to the
general welfare
3) Control of services accreditation, licensing,
registration of professionals
 Characteristics of a professional
occupation
4) Autonomy in the workplace - large degree of
individual judgment and creativity in carrying
out their professional responsibilities
The justification for this unusual degree of
autonomy is that only the professional has
sufficient knowledge to determine the appropriate
professional services in a given situation
autonomy may also increase the ability of
professionals to more easily promote their
economic self-interest
 Characteristics of a professional
occupation
5) Claim to ethical regulation
Ethical standards are embodied in a code of ethics
The degree of control that professions possess over the services that
are vital to the well-being of the rest of the community provides an
obvious temptation for abuse, so most professions attempt to limit
these abuses by regulating themselves for the public benefit
Professional codes are ordinarily promulgated by professional societies
Sometimes professional societies attempt to punish members who
violate their codes, but their powers are limited to expelling errant
members. State boards have much stronger legal powers, including
the ability to withdraw professional licenses and even institute
criminal proceedings. These regulatory agencies are controlled by
professionals themselves, and so the claim to genuine ethical
regulation is sometimes seen to be suspicious. The claim to self-
regulation does, however, tend to prompt the public to allow
professionals to charge what they want and to allow professionals
considerable autonomy.
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
What are ethics and professionalism in
engineering work?
There are several ways of identifying and deciding ethical
issues. One of the most common ways of categorizing these
approaches is the rules vs. consequences criteria.
The first argues that our actions should be guided by general
rules or principles: do not harm; tell the truth; do not steal;
respect for persons.
The second argues that we should assess the rightness of an
action or decision by the consequences that will likely result.
Most commonly the second approach identifies some
value or values, and measures the actions by the extent
to which these values are or are not enhanced, or progress
made toward certain goals, such as a better life for all.
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 Preventive ethics
During the past few decades, engineering ethics
has focused on what we call preventive ethics.
The influences disaster cases and professional
code of conduct
The past focus was mainly on preventing harm to
the public and preventing professional
misconduct.
Preventive ethics should always be an important
part of engineering ethics. However, there is
more to being a good professional than avoiding
misconduct and preventing harm to the public.
Example - Goodrich A-7 Brake Case.

In 1968, the B. F. Goodrich Corporation won a contract for the

design of the brakes for the Navy A-7 aircraft with an innovative
four-rotor brake design. Testing showed, however, that the four-
rotor system would not function in accordance with government
specifications. Managers attempted to show that the brakes did
meet government test standards by directing that the brakes should
be allowed to coast longer between applications than allowed by
military specifications, be cooled by fans between and during test
runs, and be re-machined between test runs. Upon learning about
these gross violations of governmental standards, Searle Lawson, a
young, recently graduated engineer, and Kermit Vandivier, a
technical writer, informed the FBI, which in turn alerted the
Government Accounting Office. Vandivier was fired by Goodrich,
and Lawson resigned and went to work for another company.8
 What is code of conduct?
The manner in which a person behaves,
especially in a particular place or situation

The manner in which an organization or activity

is managed or directed

Source: Oxford Dictionary

What are ethics and professionalism in
engineering work?
There are several ways of identifying and deciding ethical issues. One of the most common ways of
categorizing these approaches is the rules vs. consequences criteria. The first argues that our
actions should be guided by general rules or principles: do not harm; tell the truth; do not steal;
respect for persons. The second argues that we should assess the rightness of an action or
decision by the consequences that will likely result. Most commonly the second approach identifies
some value or values, and measures the actions by the extent to which these values are or are
not enhanced, or progress made toward certain goals, such as a better life for all.

On reflection is should be clear that there is no consensus about which of these is the more
appropriate.

The foundation of all security systems is formed by moral principles and practices of those people
involved and the standards of the profession. That is, while people are part of the solution, they are
also most the problem. Security problems with which an organization may have to deal include:
responsible decision making, confidentiality, privacy, piracy, fraud & misuse, liability, copyright,
trade secrets, and sabotage. It is easy to sensationalize these topics with real horror stories; it is
more difficult to deal with the underlying ethical issues involved.

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 Basics of ethics and professionalism
Ethics and Responsible Decison-Making
Confidentiality & Privacy
Fraud & Misuse
Liability as service provider
Respect of intellectual property rights
Trade Secrets
Sabotage
Compliance with regulations
 Aspirational ethics
However, the preventive ethics is not
adequate for the future and not motivating for
the engineering profession and new engineers
in their career
More emphasis should be placed on the more
idealistic and aspirational aspects of
engineering work, namely the place of
technology in improving the lot of humankind
by showing concern for human welfare.
 Example - Air Bags.
Carl Clark helped to develop air bags. Even
though he was a scientist and not a degreed
engineer, his work might well have been done
by an engineer. He is now advocating air bags
on bumpers, and he has even invented
wearable air bags for the elderly to prevent
broken hips. He does not get paid for all of his
time, and the bumper air bags were even
patented by someone else.13
Example - The Sealed-Beam Headlight
A group of General Electric engineers on their
own time in the late 1930s developed the
sealed beam headlight, which greatly reduced
the number of accidents caused by night
driving. There was considerable doubt as to
whether the headlight could be developed,
but the engineers persisted and finally
achieved success.
 New requirements for engineering
ethics
Inclusion of science and technology studies
(STS) and the philosophy of technology
larger social policy issues related to technology
social embeddedness of technology
Improving organization culture to improve
organizational behaviour, processes,
products and services
Increasing number of female engineers and
female workers
 New requirements for engineering
ethics
Conforming to the changing regulations,
standards and practices pertaining to:
environment,
occupational safety and health and decent
work,
treatment of employees, and
employee relations or labour-management
cooperation
Bridging social and cultural differences
between countries of operation
 Responsibility in engineering
Responsibility has to do with accountability, both
for what one does in the present and future and for
what one has done in the past.
The obligation-responsibilities of engineers require,
not only adhering to regulatory norms and standard
practices of engineering but also satisfying the
standard of reasonable care.
Engineers can expect to be held accountable, if not
legally liable, for intentionally, negligently, and
recklessly caused harms.
 Responsibility in engineering
Responsible engineering practice requires good
judgment, not simply following algorithms.
A good test of engineering responsibility is the
question, What does an engineer do when no
one is looking?
Impediments to responsible practice include
self-interest, fear, self-deception, ignorance,
egocentric tendencies, narrow vision, uncritical
acceptance of authority, and groupthink.
 Main elements in responsibility
ENGINEERING STANDARDS
THE STANDARD OF CARE
BLAME-RESPONSIBILITY AND CAUSATION
Legal LIABILITY
Design standards
The range of standards of practice
Fractured responsibility the problem of
many hands
Impediments to responsible action
Self interest personal hopes and ambitions
that are not restricted to professional ideals.
Self deception - temptations of self-interest
fear of acknowledging our mistakes, of losing
our jobs, or of some sort of punishment or
other bad consequences
Ignorance of vital information
Impediments to responsible action
Egocentric Tendencies
Microscopic vision
Uncritical Acceptance of Authority -
independent, objective judgment in
performing their functions
Groupthink situation in which groups come
to agreement at the expense of critical
thinking
 Trust and reliability
honesty, confidentiality, intellectual property, expert
witnessing, public communication, and conflicts of interest.
Forms of dishonesty include lying, deliberate deception,
withholding information, and failure to seek out the truth.
Dishonesty in engineering research and testing includes
plagiarism and the falsification and fabrication of data.
Engineers are expected to respect professional
confidentiality in their work.
Integrity in expert testimony requires not only truthfulness
but also adequate background and preparation in the areas
requiring expertise.
Conflicts of interest are especially problematic because
they threaten to compromise professional judgment.
 Risks and liability in engineering
The public conceptualizes risk in a different way from
engineers and risk experts, taking account of such factors as
free and informed consent to risk and whether risk is justly
distributed.
Government regulators have a still different approach to
risk because they place more weight on avoiding harm to
the public than producing good.
Engineers have techniques for estimating the causes and
likelihood of harm, but their effectiveness is limited.
Engineers must protect themselves from unjust liability for
harm to risk while also protecting the public from risk.
 Engineers in organisation
Employees should become familiar with the culture of the
organization in which they are employed and take
advantage of organizational resources in order to enhance
their own integrity and independence.
Engineers and managers have different perspectives, both
legitimate, and it is useful to distinguish between decisions
that should be made by managers or from the
management perspective and decisions that should be
made by engineers or from the engineering perspective.
Sometimes organizational disobedience is necessary. There
is disobedience by contrary action and disobedience by
nonparticipation, but the most widely discussed type of
organizational disobedience is whistleblowing.
Engineers and the environment
Engineering codes are increasingly including provisions about the
environment, but their implications for many environmental issues
are not clear.
A progressive attitude toward the environment goes beyond
what the law requires, and this attitude can apply to corporate
policy as well as to the career commitments of individual engineers.
The progressive attitude can have several grounds, but the
nonanthropocentric orientation is one of them.
Despite the arguments made for a progressive attitude toward the
environment, the authors continue to believe that the mandatory
obligations of engineers toward the environment should be limited
to protecting the environment insofar as it protects human health.
However, when possible, organizations should allow engineers to
refuse to participate in environmental projects (or other
projects)they find objectionable and to voice responsible objections
in and outside the workplace.
 International engineering
professionalism
Economic, cultural, and social differences
between countries sometimes produce
boundary-crossing problems for engineers.
Solutions to these problems must avoid
absolutism and relativism and should find a way
between moral rigorism and moral laxism.
Some actions, such as exploitation and bribery,
can rarely, if ever, be justified, but some
situations are susceptible to creative middle way
solutions, as long as the solutions do not violate
several familiar moral standards.
 International engineering
professionalism
Boundary-crossing problems are produced by such
factors in host countries as low levels of economic
development, extended family situations, the practice
of building business relationships on personal
relationships and cementing these relationships with
gifts, low levels of scientific and technical
sophistication, the practice of negotiating tax rates,
and differing environmental and safety standards.
These factors can, in turn, give rise to moral problems
related to such issues as exploitation, bribery, extortion
and grease payments, nepotism, excessively large gifts,
and paternalism.
Code of ethics (CRPE)
Code of ethics (ASME)
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM IN
COMMUNICATION
 Ethical writing
References
Plagiarism
Collusion
 Purpose of references in documents
To indicate the origin of statements that are
not general knowledge in the discipline
To acknowledge work done by other people
To provide additional sources for readers who
are interested in reading more widely
To provide credibility to your work where you
have developed extensive knowledge about
the topic and the research is up-to-date.
 What to reference?
It is especially important to give a reference
when you:
quote an authors words directly
use somebodys else tables, figures and/or
diagrams
put an authors words in your own words
(paraphrase)
summarise an authors ideas (summary)
use authors / sources on which you have based
your research / arguments
 What not to reference?
Information or viewpoints considered to be
general knowledge:
If it appears in at least 5 sources without any
references
If you think that the information is something that
your reader will know in any case
If you that your reader will easily be able to find
the information in a general information source
Systems for referencing
Steps for referencing