The Virtues of Engineering Practice: An Investigation of Professional Codes of Ethics in Engineering
- Conference
- Location
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Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2024
- Start Date
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June 23, 2024
- End Date
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July 12, 2024
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Engineering Ethics Division (ETHICS)
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/48147
Paper Authors
Elizabeth M Boatman
Kyle Luthy Wake Forest University
Dr. Kyle Luthy is an Assistant Professor and founding
faculty member in the Department of Engineering at Wake
Forest University. Kyle has taught across the engineering
curriculum and placed intentional focus on the virtue of
humility. Kyle holds a Ph.D. and a MS in Computer Engineering
from North Carolina State University, as well as BS degrees in
Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Computer
Science from Louisiana State University. As an educator, he
brings professional experience as an engineer and project
management from industry and government settings.
Christian B. Miller Wake Forest University
Olga Pierrakos Wake Forest University
Dr. Olga Pierrakos is a rotating STEM Education Program Director in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation (a second stint). Olga is also the Founding Chair (2017-2022) and a Professor of Wake Forest Engineering. With a unique vision to Educate the Whole Engineer and a commitment to Human Flourishing, Olga led Wake Forest Engineering to be ranked as one of the top (14th) "Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs" by US News Report (2023). With this unique vision, Olga has also served as the principal investigator since 2019 on a multi-year Kern Family Foundation KEEN (Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network) award titled "Educating the Whole Engineer" to integrate important competencies such as virtues, character, entrepreneurial mindset, and leadership across the Wake Forest Engineering curriculum. She has led Wake Forest Engineering with a focus on inclusive innovation and excellence, curricular and pedagogical innovation, and creative partnerships across the humanities, social sciences, industry, entrepreneurs, etc. in order to rethink and reimagine engineering education. All this has led to Wake Forest Engineering achieving unprecedented student diversity (42% women, 25% racial and ethnic minorities) and faculty diversity (50% women, 25% racial and ethnic diversity). Olga is an engineering education researcher, biomedical and mechanical engineer, and national leader in transforming undergraduate engineering education. She has served as founding faculty of two brand new engineering programs (the first at James Madison University) and served on several national roles across ASEE, ABET, AAAS, NSF, KEEN, etc.
Abstract
In this paper, we analyze three prominent professional engineering codes of ethics (NSPE, IEEE, and SHPE) to identify the virtues of engineering practice. This preliminary investigation by four raters (three engineers and one philosopher) revealed six prominent virtues - Responsibility, Integrity, Honesty, Trustworthiness, Teamwork, and Fairness. As an opportunity for future work, we believe there are missing virtues (e.g., Bravery, Leadership, Curiosity, Creativity, Perseverance, Hope, Love of Learning) that should be made more visible to the practice of engineering and thus engineering code of ethics. Identifying the virtues of engineering practice can inform engineering ethics education and broaden the ethics perspective by introducing virtues and virtue ethics to the education of future engineers. A virtue ethics lens offers a richer understanding and more humanistic perspective to ethical dilemmas facing engineers every day. Implications for engineering education and engineering practice are discussed.
Boatman, E. M., & Luthy, K., & Miller, C. B., & Pierrakos, O. (2024, June), The Virtues of Engineering Practice: An Investigation of Professional Codes of Ethics in Engineering Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48147
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