The Content and Structure of Code of Ethics for Engineers in China

Abstract

Code of ethics for engineers are basic principles of professional conduct. Professional engineering associations in different countries have different code of ethics. This study reviews the content and items of code of ethics in various professional engineering associations. It also conducts an empirical research in China to examine the content and structure of the code of ethics for Chinese engineers. The findings indicate that the code of ethics for engineers consist of four dimensions, i.e. “professional attitudes”, “professional characteristics”, “professional beliefs”, and “professional responsibility”. Using various analyses on rated importance level of ethical code items, the paper reveals a statistically significant difference in selecting items of code of ethics between engineers in the industry, and university faculty who teach ethics training courses.