Eyes Wide Shut? Non Referring, Loyalty and Practical Moral in Engineering Education

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• The relationship between technology and society may be conceptualized as a seamless web in a form ofcoevolution. In modern societies, this coevolution, which includes engineering design and related ethicalissues, is largely a kind of social experiment. To prevent unnecessary problems, Martin and Schinzingersuggest that engineers should seek to act ethically. This chapter examines how engineering studentsdevelop, or not, ethical concerns and practices in their everyday work. It is based on a case study usingmixed methods and focusing on students in mentor companies during their Master’s degree program. Theeducational context is understood as a Mode 2 knowledge production representing a triangular relationshipbetween the student, the university supervisor, and the mentor company where power and authority aredistributed and shaped over time. Moreover, the student’s role is conceptualized as being a legitimateperipheral participant in engineering practices and consequently in the enactment of practical morality. Thestudents work on problem-oriented projects and deal with complex decision-making processes. Havingto face the constraints and limits of real-life project development in an organization, they struggle withina web of technical knowledge; loyalty relationships to various actors, norms, and regulations; as well asmarket demands. These tensions and their related trade-offs inherent to quick decision-making leave littlespace and time to reflect on ethical questions. Nevertheless, one can trace moral concerns in the students’processes during their studies.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Annan samhällsbyggnadsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Other Civil Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

practical morality

curriculum

engineering ethics

Student mentorships

mode 2 knowledge

Publication and Content Type

kap (subject category)

vet (subject category)