Professional Ethics and Ethics in Engineering
Very old but nevertheless current, the understanding of the upsurge of ethical concerns connected to the professional practice first transcends the understanding of the interaction between several social dynamics. The development of technoscience and of its corollary the economy of knowledge, the professionalization, the institutionalization of ethics through law and other modes of regulation, as well as the emancipation of globalization in all the productive spheres only represent some of the underlying stakes of this problem. Besides, it is important to remember that these social dynamics are combined to several factors, such as the workplace transformation, the irreversible degradation of the environment, the disintegration of the traditional family, etc. (Giroux, 2000: 79). In brief, the synergy ensuing from the reproduction of these various factors has allowed to bring to light the disuse of the usual rules of conduct for the control of behaviour, while giving priority to the importance of collectively adopting new means of regulation (Bourgeault and Caron, 2000: 110). Based on this recently acknowledged context from which emanates some uncertainty, the ethic appears as a completely innovative means which makes it possible to exercise some control on human behaviour and to take into account its impunity and transparency. The profession of engineer did not escape this current trend in the business world. A review of the literature on the subject shows a marked evolution in the number of events which have contributed, sometimes slowly sometimes drastically, to the implant of ethics in engineering. These concerns have led to the realization of a study involving engineering consultants who work within diverse domains of engineering. Since the subject of ethics has not been researched extensively up to now even though it is considered increasingly important in the organizational sphere, the present study establishes itself as the onset of a theoretical as well as empirical reflection on the problems linked to professional ethics. This study was neither aimed at the extension of its results nor at suggesting any causality. Its purpose was to explore the relationship between the type of ethical dilemma experienced (classified through the typology of Langlois, 2005) as well as the gender, age and work experience of the participants. More specifically, this study aimed to verify three main hypothesis: (1) the existence of a link between the gender of the participant and the type of ethical dilemma experienced; (2) the existence of a link between the age of the participant and the type of ethical dilemma experienced; and (3) the existence of a link between work experience and the type of ethical dilemma experienced. Sixteen engineers from Québec (eight men and eight women) working in diverse domains of engineering have been selected for the data collection which was realized through semi-structured interviews. The guide for these interviews was produced by Langlois (2003) and inspired by Brown’s research in moral theory (1988). The qualitative approach was chosen for the analysis. More specifically, the analysis of the interviews made with the participants has enabled us to identify the determining factors in the choice of ethical decision by the engineer himself when subjected to a situation of ethical dilemma. This allowed us to classify the dilemmas experienced by the professionals who had been interrogated, based on Langlois’s typology (2005) which is essentially a model which reviews three ethical dimensions: the ethics of justice, the ethics of care and the ethics of criticism. These dimensions are the results of developments in moral theories as well as developments in philosophy and psychology. Each one of these dimensions is associated with the characteristics and values guiding the action of the individual. Finally, the classification of these various dilemmas into either dimension of the typology was taking into account the gender, age and work experience of the participants. Although the results confirm the diverse hypothesis, they must be restricted to the limits of this study. They are nonetheless discussed, as are the limits implied by the methodology chosen for the research. It would be unwise to take for granted or to validate the results of this study for all the engineers associated with the criteria of this research. However, these results should interest the scientific community in the advent of future researches on professional ethics. More research will have to be done in order to confirm these results and to reinforce the conclusions which could be drawn on the ethics in the world of engineering.