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Session XXXX

Alumni Perspectives on Professional and Ethical Responsibility

Robert J. Gustafson, Edward McCaul, Earl Whitlatch The Ohio State University

Abstract

The goal of the study reported in this paper was to collect data which would give guidance to our programs on ways to reduce the gap in the perceived importance versus preparation of College of Engineering B.S. graduates in the area of “Professional and Ethical Responsibility”. A survey was designed to address four main questions: Q1) What ethical issues are occurring most frequently in engineering practice? Q2) What is important in determining professional and ethical behavior? Q3) What are the most significant barriers that limit professional and ethical behavior? Q4) What should be done differently in our undergraduate programs to improve professional and ethical behavior? Based on a survey completed by 249 alumni, relative to the four questions, the following observations can be made:

Q1) A. “Confidentiality of Information”, “Reviewing the Work of Another Engineer”, and “Engineering Competency” were ranked as the three items with the highest frequency of creating ethical issues in engineering practice. B. Overall, those with PE or EIT status and females tended to rate frequency of occurrence of ethical issues higher. However, the variation was not uniform across items. C. No consistent pattern of variation by alumni year was observed, but variation by program was readily apparent.

Q2) A. “Personal Beliefs” are ranked very high while “Undergraduate Education” and “Professional Registration” were both low among items important in determining professional and ethical behavior. B. Overall, those with PE or EIT status tended to assign higher importance to items determine behavior. However, the variation was not uniform across items. C. As with Q1, no consistent pattern of variation by alumni year was observed, but variation by program was readily apparent.

Q3) Written responses regarding barriers that limit ethical behavior fell into nine categories: Cost and time constraints(n = 37); Supervisor/employer attitude, values and behavior (n = 37); Personal beliefs and attributes (n = 22); Lack of training or knowledge (n = 18);

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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McCaul, E., & Whitlatch, E., & Gustafson, R. J. (2003, June), Alumni Perspectives On Professional And Ethical Responsibility Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--11906