Professional Ethical Orientation of Civil Engineering Co‐Op Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the professional ethical orientation of undergraduate civil engineering students in a cooperative education program. Using a sample of 190 civil engineering undergraduate students at North‐eastern University, three research questions were investigated: (1) What ethical orientations do civil engineering students demonstrate when making professional ethical decisions?; (2) does the professional ethical orientation of the student change as he or she progresses through a civil engineering curriculum?; and (3) do students express the same professional ethical orientation for each of three core ethical concepts? Data were collected using a mailed questionnaire consisting of 12 hypothetical ethical situations that a civil engineering student might experience on co‐op. There are four questions for each of the three core ethical concept areas of the engineering code of ethics: (1) Public interest; (2) qualities of truth, honesty, and fairness; and (3) professional performance. Results indicated that the ethical orientation of students changes from a rule‐based orientation to an act‐based orientation as they progress through an undergraduate civil engineering co‐op program, and they exhibit different ethical orientations for the core ethical concepts.