INGENIEUR
economic downturn and insufficient awareness of ethics [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. There are even more forms of malpractice at the tendering stage .
Let ’ s discuss possible solutions as engineers are meant to solve problems .
Borrowing wisdom from literature , a recent study recommended several measures which can potentially improve ethical behaviour and enhance professionalism amongst engineers [ 4 ].
Firstly , leadership by example . The top management team should show the right way via the top-bottom approach . Young graduate engineers who are still fresh from the university require good mentors to exemplify the importance of making conscientious decisions guided by engineering ethics . The top management should strive to cultivate a culture of adherence to the code of ethics in the organisation . Such a culture can be established by having a set of commonly agreed rules . These rules must be communicated effectively to ensure that everyone within the organisation is on the same page . The interests of whistle blowers should also be safeguarded as whistleblowing is a powerful tool to counter lapses in ethics .
Next , strict enforcement of the relevant Acts and Regulations should take place as deterrence . As much as I hate to say this , the majority of us are still not ready to self-regulate and meting out punishments as provisioned in the Acts and Regulations would hopefully deter us from committing the same mistake more than once . We need to be constantly reminded to hold paramount the safety , health and welfare of the public by practising or providing services only within our own areas of competence .
The way Engineering Ethics is being taught at the university should also be improved [ 5 ]. In my opinion , assessing and grading students based on how much they can remember the principles of the code of ethics should be stopped or at the very least , minimised . Ethics should be mapped to both the Cognitive and Affective domains . Engineering students should be presented with actual case studies for them to analyse and project their thoughts either verbally or otherwise . The present practice of inviting industrial practitioners to deliver guest lectures is indeed commendable but we have to also consider that we learn more by doing , not listening . Perhaps “ Professional Engineers and Society ” and other similar ethics programmes for engineers should also require students to draw upon their experiences while undergoing their internship , which is usually 10-12 weeks long . They should be required to reflect and relate . Speaking of internship or industrial training , I would also like to recommend that universities allow and strongly encourage engineering students to go for industrial placement during every semester break . By doing so , we are also providing more exposure for our students to real working experience and this will also directly increase their exposure to ethical practices . Expecting students to gain significant industrial exposure within a mere 10 weeks is ambitious .
The decision to remove the Professional Development Programme ( PDP ) mandatory courses , which include Code of Ethics and Health and Safety at Work among others , effective February 15 , 2016 , should also be revisited . Without making it compulsory , many graduate engineers may opt to rely fully on sample solutions circulating widely online in their quest to prepare to answer the questions on ethics during the written examination to qualify towards becoming a Professional Engineer . While it is true that graduate engineers may have learned the principles during their undergraduate studies , these courses could serve as a refresher for them after having accumulated several years of experience practising as engineers . Learned institutions such as The Institution of Engineers Malaysia ( IEM ) should also play a more proactive role in educating their engineering members on the code of ethics .
Last but not least , parents and teachers play a vital role in shaping the character of young ones . We all should internalise the meaning of the proverb “ melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya ”. What it basically means is that children are best educated when they are still young . A piece of white cloth is the easiest to be beautified or contaminated . Raise our students and kids to be people of high moral and ethical standing . As engineering educators , we need to reinforce the
56 VOL 92 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2022