Enhancing Engineering Ethics: Role Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Area of Science:

• Engineering Ethics
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Professional Practice

Background:

• Engineering ethics traditionally focuses on professional codes and personal values.
• Corporate settings present complex ethical challenges often overlooked in standard engineering ethics training.
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is often integrated into corporate culture but rarely discussed in engineering ethics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how formal engineering ethics training prepares practicing engineers for corporate ethical dilemmas.
• To investigate the role of CSR policies and practices in navigating these dilemmas.
• To propose integrating CSR and role ethics into engineering ethics education.

Main Methods:

• Review of the evolution of social responsibility in US engineering ethics.
• Empirical research with engineers in the mining and energy industries.
• Analysis of how ethical dilemmas are framed within CSR and role ethics.

Main Results:

• Practicing engineers' formal ethics training inadequately prepared them for real-world corporate ethical challenges.
• Ethical dilemmas and navigation strategies are often framed by CSR policies and practices.
• Role ethics provides a more relevant framework for understanding these dilemmas than traditional ethical theory.

Conclusions:

• Engineering ethics education needs explicit incorporation of CSR and role ethics.
• This integration can better equip engineers to address complex professional practice ethics.
• A focus on role ethics and CSR aligns better with the practical realities engineers face.