Advances in Phytochemistry, Textile and Renewable Energy Research for Industrial Growth

Abstract

The engineering industry is known for its low ethical performance. Professional ethics instruction in Kenyan engineering faculties is commonly conducted by examining case studies in light of the code of ethics and conduct for engineers. Although the tenets of a code of ethics may leave a lasting impression, students generally gain their professional identity from relatives, colleagues, and practicing engineers. Their engineering professional ethics tend to be mostly an extension of their personal ethics. Instruction on ethics during training generally serves only to reinforce students’ inclination to act ethically and encourages them to act on these beliefs. This study based on survey on engineering ethics adopted moral awareness which is one of the Rest model’s four processes. The survey was conducted (n = 164) to examine the personal ethical perceptions of engineering students (n = 120, consisting of n = 79 for 1st year and n = 41 for 5th year) and practicing engineers (n = 44). The survey consisted of 16 acts that challenged respondents by examining their personal ethical beliefs in light of the professional ethics requirements of the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) code. The survey measured how respondents perceive their own ethical beliefs and how they perceive the ethical beliefs and actions of their peers. After familiarization with the EBK code, respondents were also invited to comment regarding their beliefs regarding adherence to the code. Results indicate that, although generally the engineers and engineering students sampled agreed that the acts listed were unethical, several items raised concern. In particular, the item concerning “continuous professional development” was rated as one of the least unethical behaviours. This result points strongly to the need to further reinforce the need for relevant lifelong learning for engineers both during training and practice. Also, results indicated that there is evidence of self-perception-versus-other disparity. For six unethical acts for students and four acts for engineers, in the surveyed list, the means of data for self-perception and colleague perceptions were statistically significantly different at the alpha level of 0.05. When the act was perceived as more unethical, both engineers and students tended to rate themselves as more ethical compared to their peers. Action research through mentorship is recommended as part of the solution to addressing ethical issues in engineering practice.