Introduction

In the last few weeks of the course, the articles have dealt with engineers’ responsibilities, about professionals working in large organizations, and deprofessionalization. All of these topics revolve around a common theme: that professionals often have to deal with pressure that pushes them toward actions that conflict with their profession’s code of ethics. For instance, engineers at Ford were ignored by executives when the engineers reported on safety concerns about the Pinto. In that case, the engineers were in a dilemma, caught between doing what they should do as engineers, and doing what the Ford executives wanted them to do as employees. Similarly, Shahinpoor & Matt describe a dilemma involving professionals working in organizations where management does not tolerate dissent: professionals in those work environments are caught between doing what they believe is right, and going along with and remaining obedient to management.

James, Davis, Shahinpoor & Matt, and McPhail propose various ways that professionals in these dilemmas could act in defense of their professional ethical responsibilities. Some involve actions that the professional or the whole profession could take, and some involve changes to the organizations where professionals work.

[REMEMBER: The profession is the group of people who do a certain kind of work, e.g., “medical doctors” means all medical doctors, regardless of where they work; “faculty” means all college faculty, regardless of where they teach. The “profession” is not the name of the place where they work. I would be a member of the same profession of college faculty whether I taught at Stan State or Stanford or MJC or wherever. “Stan State” is not the name of a profession. “Stan State” doesn’t have an ethics code.]

Question Prompt

In the context of large organizations where professionals work, what could be done in order to make it possible for professionals to fulfill their professional ethical responsibilities? (“Professional ethical responsibilities” means the ethical responsibilities established by the profession as such — the group of all members of that same profession, regardless of where they work.)