Professional Ethics
Instructor: Tanzeela Siddiqui
Introduction to the Course
Believes safety is Has heard of an
Faced an ethical Knows about IEEE
more important engineering
dilemma Code of Ethics
than cost scandal
Has seen an
Would report a Thinks ethics Knows a case
example of
colleague for should be a where ethics saved
unethical
unethical behavior mandatory subject lives
engineering
Thinks following
Worked in a team Believes honesty is
orders is more Can name an
where ethics were key to engineering
important than ethical engineer
discussed success
ethics
Thinks companies
Knows about Has faced pressure Can explain why
should be
engineering to cut corners on a ethics matter in
penalized for
whistleblowers project engineering
ethical violations
• Ethical Dilemmas:
• 1️⃣Your company asks you to use cheaper materials that may compromise safety. What do you do?
• 2️⃣You discover a senior engineer has falsified test results for an important project. Do you report them?
• 3️⃣A client offers you a bribe to approve a faulty electrical design. How do you respond?
• 4️⃣You are pressured to work overtime without additional pay to meet a deadline. Do you comply?
• 5️⃣A new technology your company is developing may have harmful environmental effects. Do you speak up?
• 6️⃣Your team wants to ignore a minor defect in a product to save costs. Do you agree?
• 7️⃣You notice your company is violating an industry regulation. Do you report it, knowing you might lose your job?
• 8️⃣You are asked to sign off on work you didn't personally verify. What do you do?
• 9️⃣A colleague takes credit for your idea during a project meeting. How do you handle it?
• 0️⃣Your company’s product has a flaw that could cause harm, but recalling it would be expensive. Do you reveal the
issue?
Morality Vs. Ethics
Advantages of Driverless Cars
They promise
• a significant reduction in traffic collisions
• increased access of the elderly and disabled to automobile
transportation
• lower fuel consumption
• major increases in traffic flow
• Moral responsibility or legal liability?
• How safe are they?
• What kinds of information should be given to drivers
• How should the potential problems of hacking and terrorism be
handled?
• potential loss of driving-related jobs?
• Question of responsibility is not unique to driveless cars
• Moral and social issues
Your Profession is Part of Your Identity!
• Who you are?
• Will you feel differently about yourself when you get that
degree?
Components of Professionalism
• expertise in a certain area
• adherence to moral guidelines, usually
laid out in a formal code of ethics.
Three Stages in the Development of
Professional Identity
• Independent Operator- Following Fixed Rules &
Guidelines
• Team-Oriented Idealist- Conforming to Peer
Expectations
• Self-Defining or Integrated Professional-
Internalized Professionalism
• one has integrated his personal values with those of his
profession. This stage is often not fully achieved until mid-
life.
Approaches to professionalism
• Sociological Account,
• Social Contract Account,
• Davis’ Definition
Sociological Account
Characteristics of a Profession
1. Extensive period of training of an intellectual character, usually
obtained at a college or university.
2. Possessing knowledge and skills vital to the well-being of the
larger society.
3. A monopoly or near-monopoly on the provision of professional
services, and considerable control over professional education
and the standards for admission into the profession.
4. An unusual degree of autonomy in the workplace.
5. A claim to be regulated by ethical standards, usually embodied
in a code of ethics, that promotes the good of the public
