The Undone Ethics of Engineering Ethics

Michelle Ausman; Dean Nieusma; Qin Zhu; Stephen Rea; Kylee Shiekh; Beck Corby

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: LEES Session 8: Care and Commitments
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41721
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41721
Download Count: 399

Paper Authors

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Michelle Ausman

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Michelle is a third year PhD student in Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle's research interests lie at the intersection of Asian American Studies, Engineering Education, and Critical STS.

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Dean Nieusma Colorado School of Mines

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Dean Nieusma is Department Head and Associate Professor of Engineering, Design, and Society at the Colorado School of Mines.

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Qin Zhu Colorado School of Mines

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Dr. Zhu is Assistant Professor of Ethics and Engineering Education in the Department of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Engineering, Design & Society and the Robotics Graduate Program at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Zhu is Editor for International Perspectives at the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science, Associate Editor for Engineering Studies, Chair of American Society for Engineering Education's Division of Engineering Ethics, and Executive Committee Member of the International Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum. Dr. Zhu's research interests include the cultural foundations of engineering (ethics) education, global engineering education, and ethics and policy of computing technologies and robotics.

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Abstract

Under the ABET accreditation standards, engineering students who graduate from accredited programs should possess certain practical ethical competencies. Yet students feel unequipped, under-exposed, or lacking the knowledge, skills, and vocabulary to make informed and well-justified ethical decisions. Their engineering coursework does not prepare them to feel confident or competent in ethics. Based on our qualitative data utilizing situational analysis of semi-structured interviews, we attribute this lack of competence to “undone ethics” in engineering education. What does undone ethics look like in the context of engineering education and engineering ethics? This paper develops the terminology “undone ethics” through exploring the concept of “undone science,” drawn from science and technology studies (STS). In order to map out the connections of undone ethics to undone science, we created a typology of undone ethics, drawing from empirical, qualitative data through interviews with engineering students at a private research university.

We offer three explanations as to why undone ethics occurs in the engineering education setting. First, when there is any discussion of ethics, ethics is framed as an exploration of safety. Through examples of accidents, failures, and disasters with clear ethical stances, students are unable to navigate the grey areas of engineering ethics. Second, engineering tends to create a boundary separation of the social from the technical, which we refer to as the demarcation problem. The social knowledges and skills in engineering tend to be shunted into non-engineering courses or low-stakes, minimal effort exercises within engineering coursework. As ethics is not viewed as a technical skill, it is not given high importance by engineers, thus left out of engineering lessons. Third, an implicit understanding of engineering ethics is considered as tacit knowledge. Engineering students are expected to have some understanding of ethics before entering the classroom. Because they are assumed to already, somehow, carry this knowledge, the notion is that ethics does not need to be taught. Thus engineers rarely have formal education on ethical concerns in engineering. We conclude this paper by offering suggestions for further research on undone ethics and how educators can apply it in the engineering context.

Citation
Format

Ausman, M., & Nieusma, D., & Zhu, Q., & Rea, S., & Shiekh, K., & Corby, B. (2022, August), The Undone Ethics of Engineering Ethics Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41721

TY - CPAPER
AB - Under the ABET accreditation standards, engineering students who graduate from accredited programs should possess certain practical ethical competencies. Yet students feel unequipped, under-exposed, or lacking the knowledge, skills, and vocabulary to make informed and well-justified ethical decisions. Their engineering coursework does not prepare them to feel confident or competent in ethics. Based on our qualitative data utilizing situational analysis of semi-structured interviews, we attribute this lack of competence to “undone ethics” in engineering education. What does undone ethics look like in the context of engineering education and engineering ethics? This paper develops the terminology “undone ethics” through exploring the concept of “undone science,” drawn from science and technology studies (STS). In order to map out the connections of undone ethics to undone science, we created a typology of undone ethics, drawing from empirical, qualitative data through interviews with engineering students at a private research university.

We offer three explanations as to why undone ethics occurs in the engineering education setting. First, when there is any discussion of ethics, ethics is framed as an exploration of safety. Through examples of accidents, failures, and disasters with clear ethical stances, students are unable to navigate the grey areas of engineering ethics. Second, engineering tends to create a boundary separation of the social from the technical, which we refer to as the demarcation problem. The social knowledges and skills in engineering tend to be shunted into non-engineering courses or low-stakes, minimal effort exercises within engineering coursework. As ethics is not viewed as a technical skill, it is not given high importance by engineers, thus left out of engineering lessons. Third, an implicit understanding of engineering ethics is considered as tacit knowledge. Engineering students are expected to have some understanding of ethics before entering the classroom. Because they are assumed to already, somehow, carry this knowledge, the notion is that ethics does not need to be taught. Thus engineers rarely have formal education on ethical concerns in engineering. We conclude this paper by offering suggestions for further research on undone ethics and how educators can apply it in the engineering context.

AU - Michelle Ausman
AU - Dean Nieusma
AU - Qin Zhu
AU - Stephen Rea
AU - Kylee Shiekh
AU - Beck Corby
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - The Undone Ethics of Engineering Ethics
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41721
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41721
ER -