Towards a descriptive framework of the engineering ethical worldview

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper provides a novel theoretical framework of engineering ethics, specifically how engineering professional practitioners make sense of ethics. Multiple regression was applied to 2009 survey data (N=2276, 38% return) of practising engineers, to identify groups of competencies correlated with ethics. These were identified as values within an ethics worldview model. The model has two compartments. One is the development of a professional worldview, whereby professional engineers reconstruct their own values over time, and then seek to embody those in their own life. The other is an awareness of the need for professional judgement in complex decision-making. All the significant variables identified in the survey may be accommodated in this model. While the raw data (ex 2009) were dated, the method and findings help move the field forward by providing new insights into how practising engineers make sense of ethics.