Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENTFigure 2: Co-authorship patterns for engineering papers (1990–2004)100 %80 %60 %40 %20 %0 %1990-1992 1993-1995 1996-1998 1999-2000 2002-2004ConclusionEngineering in South Africa has responded well to the nationalimperative to transform. This is evident in the demographicsof its research output as well as its numbers of graduate students.It is further evidenced by its increasing internationalization,although papers in the field are not sufficiently cited. Theageing of the productive scientists in the field is a disturbingtrend and requires attention. The biggest challenge remainsthe need to increase overall output of engineers to meet thefuture industrial and scientific needs of the country.SA authorsForeign authors4.6 Engineering ethics and anti-corruption4.6.1 Engineering ethics: overviewChristelle DidierIntroductionEthical reflection in engineering is relatively more recent thanin other professions. Nevertheless, there is an area of studynamed ‘engineering ethics’ that was established as an autonomousfield of academic research in the United States at theend of the 1970s, and has developed as a unique field elsewherefor example in those countries where their professionalorganizations have published codes of ethics. The first code wasadopted in the United Kingdom in 1910 by the Institution ofCivil Engineers and was followed by many others in the UnitedStates, and in other countries. However, while the codes arediscussed and regularly amended in some of the associationsthat adopted them, in others they sometimes simply ‘exist’.While some observers question its theoretical foundationsand methods, others simply doubt that the engineers’ professionalactivities may raise specific ethical questions. Thusfew seem to be surprised when philosophers and ethicistsquestion certain aspects of technological development –technological development that is barely imaginable in theabsence of engineers. Here are two established facts: first,technological development raises ethical questions; second,engineers necessarily contribute to the existence and to thedeployment of technological development. For some, thisconfrontation compels ethical questioning in engineering. Forothers, the ethical challenge of techniques is not the concernof engineers.What is the status of engineering ethics?The concept of engineering ethics is sometimes hard to translateinto languages other than English, and it is hard to understandin cultural contexts other than those developed underAnglo-American influence.In some places, such as France, the word ‘profession’ can referto any kind of job; in other countries including the UnitedStates, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa , Australiaand the United Kingdom, a profession is an area of activitywhose members are provided with specific rights (or at leastsocial recognition) and are trusted with specific responsibilities.The division of the job market between ‘professions’ and‘occupations’ in those countries fits in with functionalist theoriesthat have dominated the sociology of profession for decades.It also fits in with an understanding of the role and statusof the professions in societies that can be traced back a longtime to the early history of England.The question ‘Is engineering a profession?’ can be found in allof the introductions of engineering ethics textbooks. Manyscholars in this field consider it as a key question, to which theanswer is affirmative. For them, engineering ethics is relatedto the professional status of engineering. Other scholars,also familiar to functionalist theories, consider that it is notpossible to talk about engineering ethics because engineeringis not a ‘true’ profession. These discussions about the ‘essence’of engineering do not exist in countries where the demarcationbetween the professions and other types of activities is not anissue. Even in countries where this demarcation is meaningful,some scholars have an understanding of ‘engineering ethics’ (as184