Reifying Dominant Ideologies: Consequences of Decoupling Equity from Ethics in Engineering Education

Abstract

In this paper, we conduct a critical, secondary analysis of three engineering leadership research projects to explore the consequences of separating ethics from equity in engineering education and practice. Our findings suggest that by pairing ethics with equity, the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) has raised the profile of professional responsibility among engineering education administrators. Unfortunately, by treating ethics and equity as distinct skillsets rather than integrated epistemological practices, we fail to disrupt powerful ideologies in the profession. In the process, we run the risk of universalizing ethical dilemmas faced by socially advantaged engineers, masking career mobility penalties faced by marginalized members of the profession and leaving engineering leaders with strong social impact records off the hook for inequity. In short, by decoupling equity from professional ethics, we leave societal patterns of privilege intact in workplaces designed for something other than teaching and learning.