<p>Novice engineers become engineering professionals through the process of professional socialization. An important dimension of professional socialization is moral formation, and engineering education contributes to the initial process of the moral formation of engineering students. However, engineering ethics education has mainly focused on teaching ethical issues and reasoning skills, and the limitation of such approaches has been often pointed out. This dissertation is the result of the exploratory investigations to obtain insights into engineering practitioners’ moral formation, which could eventually lead to knowledge for more effectively facilitating engineering students’ moral formation.  </p> <p><br></p> <p>This dissertation consists of four independent but related studies. The first study (Chapter 2) is a theoretical study to establish a new framework for engineers’ professional socialization, which includes moral formation. To create the framework, I synthesized the ideas of Durkheim, Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt on moral formation, with Durkheim as a common thread, and argued that the moral formation process is influenced and promoted by social discipline, a collective process that utilizes cultural influences, with respect for individual differences.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The following three studies are empirical studies informed by the first theoretical study. The second study explored the political ideologies and moral foundations of engineers in the United States. I examined how engineers’ political ideologies are associated with their moral foundations and how engineers’ political ideologies and moral foundations vary across their employment sectors, organizational positions, and demographic attributes. Especially, the comparison across different employment sectors could provide insights for ethics researchers because the working environment, which can be informed by the dominant thoughts and attitudes of the members of the group, could potentially inform the contents of the social discipline. The third study examined the relationships between engineering professionals’ personality traits, moral foundations, and political ideology, and how these interact with their workplace organizational cultures. The knowledge about the relationships and interactions could provide insights on deepening the understanding of individual differences in the moral formation process. The fourth study explored engineers’ moral narratives, and I introduced four examples. The results showed that individual engineers’ moral narratives are intertwined with their life history as a person, although there are some different approaches to pursuing a moral life. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Each study in this dissertation independently contributes to enhancing the understanding of different aspects of engineers’ moral formation, which is a complex and multifaceted process where engineers’ individual characteristics and the culture of their organizations interact. While the influence of organizational culture on moral behavior has been studied by business ethicists, this dissertation appears to be the first to examine the role of organizational culture in the moral formation of engineers. I discuss the potential opportunity to design a new pedagogy based on this dissertation as future work.    </p>

Este trabalho identifica o Código de Ética e Prática Profissional da engenharia de software como o conjunto de práticas para consideração de fatores humanos na engenharia de software. A seguir, estende o Kernel da especificação Essence, e o utiliza para conduzir a aplicação desse conjunto de práticas. A prova de conceito indica que o conjunto de práticas identificadas não garante a consideração de fatores humanos na engenharia de software. Considerar a ética nas interações existentes na empreitada de engenharia de software não é um simples caso de utilização de checklists como forma de verificar o que deve ser feito para certificar que algo foi realizado. Considerar a ética é mais do que isso. É necessário que todas as pessoas tenham consciência da importância da ética, do respeito de um ao outro e à sociedade. / This text identifies the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice as a set of practices to consider human factors in software engineering. Afterwards, it extends the Kernel of the Essence specification, and applies it to steer the use of this set of practices. The proof of concept indicates that the identified set of practices does not ensure the consideration of human factors in software engineering. Considering ethics, in the interactions that are present in software engineering endeavor, is not a simple case of using checklists to ascertain what must be done to ensure that something was carried out. Taking ethics into consideration is more than that. It is imperative that all the people should become aware of how important ethics is, and so is the respect for each other and for the society. Keywords: This text identifies the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice as a set of practices to consider human factors in software engineering. Afterwards, it extends the Kernel of the Essence specification, and applies it to steer the use of this set of practices. The proof of concept indicates that the identified set of practices does not ensure the consideration of human factors in software engineering. Considering ethics, in the interactions that are present in software engineering endeavor, is not a simple case of using checklists to ascertain what must be done to ensure that something was carried out. Taking ethics into consideration is more than that. It is imperative that all the people should become aware of how important ethics is, and so is the respect for each other and for the society.

Este trabalho identifica o Código de Ética e Prática Profissional da engenharia de software como o conjunto de práticas para consideração de fatores humanos na engenharia de software. A seguir, estende o Kernel da especificação Essence, e o utiliza para conduzir a aplicação desse conjunto de práticas. A prova de conceito indica que o conjunto de práticas identificadas não garante a consideração de fatores humanos na engenharia de software. Considerar a ética nas interações existentes na empreitada de engenharia de software não é um simples caso de utilização de checklists como forma de verificar o que deve ser feito para certificar que algo foi realizado. Considerar a ética é mais do que isso. É necessário que todas as pessoas tenham consciência da importância da ética, do respeito de um ao outro e à sociedade. / This text identifies the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice as a set of practices to consider human factors in software engineering. Afterwards, it extends the Kernel of the Essence specification, and applies it to steer the use of this set of practices. The proof of concept indicates that the identified set of practices does not ensure the consideration of human factors in software engineering. Considering ethics, in the interactions that are present in software engineering endeavor, is not a simple case of using checklists to ascertain what must be done to ensure that something was carried out. Taking ethics into consideration is more than that. It is imperative that all the people should become aware of how important ethics is, and so is the respect for each other and for the society. Keywords: This text identifies the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice as a set of practices to consider human factors in software engineering. Afterwards, it extends the Kernel of the Essence specification, and applies it to steer the use of this set of practices. The proof of concept indicates that the identified set of practices does not ensure the consideration of human factors in software engineering. Considering ethics, in the interactions that are present in software engineering endeavor, is not a simple case of using checklists to ascertain what must be done to ensure that something was carried out. Taking ethics into consideration is more than that. It is imperative that all the people should become aware of how important ethics is, and so is the respect for each other and for the society.

In this thesis Hannah Arendt’s theories of science and technology are applied in an ethnographic study of engineering ethics. Seeking to gain further understanding of Arendt’s thoughts, her concepts of The Archimedean Point and Earth Alienation is applied in interviews with engineering students in Sweden’s Uppsala University. The purpose directing this study is thus twofold, it is an attempt to anthropologize Arendt’s thoughts of science and technology, and to further understand engineering’s ethical engagement. The study identifies a dynamic where engineering students create dichotomous mentalities. One mentality is engineering’s demand of a desubjectified instrumental rationality in inherent contradiction to an ethical consciousness, this mentality can be identified as Arendt’s Archimedean Point. In conflict to this mentality lies the intersubjectivity of a socio-politically engaged student concerned with engineering’s ability to create evil. This study makes the claim that Uppsala University’s student traditions and culture encourage the second mentality and forms an important resource for ethical engagement among students.