Ethical Dilemmas Experienced by Engineering Students during Their Vacation Work

Abstract

In light of changing conceptions regarding the contemporary engineer, the focus of much recent engineering education research has been on how best to prepare engineering students for the challenges they will face as professionals. Part of this includes education in engineering ethics. The literature shows that in order to be efficacious, engineering ethics education should encourage students to engage personally with problem situations. Thus, as a way to create more-targeted, relatable teaching interventions, this study provides an overview of the ethical dilemmas that engineering students at the University of Cape Town faced during their vacation work. Findings were drawn from student essays about ethical dilemmas experienced by engineering students from various disciplines. The data showed that students engaged with three categories of ethical dilemmas according to the amount of agency that they enacted. Conclusions are that the South African engineering industry is fraught with ethical dilemmas and that both students and professionals need to be educated to recognize these and to respond ethically.