Sci Eng Ethics DOI 10.1007/s11948-014-9537-9 ORIGINAL PAPER
Foundations for Value Education in Engineering: The Indian Experience Amitabha Gupta
Received: 18 October 2013 / Accepted: 21 March 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract The objective of this paper is to discuss some of the foundational issues centering around the question of integrating education in human values with professional engineering education: its necessity and justification. The paper looks at the efforts in ‘tuning’ the technical education system in India to the national goals in the various phases of curriculum development. The contribution of the engineering profession in national development and India’s self-sufficiency is crucially linked with the institutionalization of expertise and the role of morality and responsibility. This linkage can be created through a proper understanding of the social role of the profession—what motivates the professionals and what makes professional life meaningful. Value education facilitates the process of moral maturity and the development of a ‘holistic’ mindset. This paper deals with the need to create such a mindset, the human values associated with it and gives examples of efforts to impart such education through ‘action-oriented’ programmes introduced in some institutes of engineering in India. Keywords Skepticism about value education The concept of ‘Profession’ Paradigm shift in ‘professional ethics’ Institutionalization of responsibility: Committed behavior Student engagement through ‘action-oriented’ programmes Convergence of plurality of motivation
Introduction The relationship of professional engineering education with national or social aspirations and developmental objectives is dependent on an understanding the nature of a ‘‘profession’’ as a social institution, and the obligations that go with the A. Gupta (&) Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 503, Whispering Woods, Powai Vihar Complex, Bldg. No. 3, Powai, Mumbai 400076, Maharashtra, India e-mail:
[email protected]
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institutionalization of expertise, the values that guide and shape the life of engineers as professionals as well as human beings. The objective of this paper is to make a contribution to this understanding. The paper is divided into 11 short sections. Surveys carried out in this study on the phases of engineering education in India and the challenges faced by each phase are discussed in the section ‘‘Phases of Engineering Education in India and the Challenges’’. Section ‘‘National Needs and Expectations from Science and Technology’’ focuses on various policy statements articulating the national needs and expectations, and the role science and technology can play in realizing them. Section ‘‘Integrating Ethics and Values with Technical Education System’’ describes the measures required for harmonizing and tuning Indian technical education system to national goals. Section ‘‘Skepticism About Value Education’’ looks into the reasons for skepticism about value education, social obligations and ethical norms for the engineers. Section ‘‘Arguments Rebutting the Skepticism About Value Education’’ advances arguments rebutting the skepticism about value education by examining some of the relevant foundational issues, such as showing how concepts of ‘‘profession’’ and ‘‘responsibility’’ or ‘‘obligation’’ get linked by defining ‘profession’ appropriately. Section ‘‘Theories of Motives for Moral and Social Obligations of the Professionals’’ looks into some of the theories of motivation for the professionals, such as self-interest maximization and efficiency. Section ‘‘Paradigm Shift in the Understanding of Human Motivation and Action and the Convergence of Multiple Motives’’ deals with a paradigm shift in the understanding of human motivation and action and the convergence of multiple motives, such as those motives that are self or society centered but merge and interweave with human nature and conduct while acting morally and with social obligations. Section ‘‘Codified and Supererogatory Paradigms of Social Responsibility of the Professionals’’ discusses the two approaches to the foundation of ‘professional responsibilities’: (a) institutionalized consensual collective codified ethical standards of professional responsibility and (b) non-communal supererogatory paradigm of social responsibility of the professionals based primarily on conscience, self-fulfillment and integrity. Section ‘‘Need for Changing the Scope of Professional Ethics’’ argues the need for changing the scope of Professional Ethics. Section ‘‘Examples of Efforts in Integrating Value Education and Engineering Curriculum’’ cites a few examples of the activities of the engineers conducted in Indian engineering institutions substantiating how some of the desired ends have actually been achieved (although detailed statistics cannot be provided at this moment) in consonance with such professional ethics. Section ‘‘Concluding Comments’’ gives some conclusions. The problems relating to the formulation of appropriate strategies for integrating human values with engineering education forms an important part of a different set of issues, which fall outside scope of this paper. It was, however, the subject matter of another paper. (Gupta 2002)
Phases of Engineering Education in India and the Challenges A survey of the history of engineering education in India will reveal at least four distinct phases. Each phase has its characteristic emphasis based on issues that defined the approach to engineering education at that point of time.
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Phase I (1847–c.1946) pertains to the colonial era during which engineering education aimed at fulfilling the requirements of the colonial masters in developing technical manpower locally and help running government organizations that dealt with civil and public works, such as irrigation, power, railways and roads. The curriculum in engineering education in India during this time was static and utility oriented. Phase II (1947–1966) relates to the era after independence, which witnessed a massive programme for planned development and a large expansion of engineering colleges. It was also marked by the search for an appropriate engineering curriculum with the relevant constituent subjects and their weighting. Phase III (1967–1990): With the establishment of institutes of ‘higher learning’ in engineering, Phase III sought to achieve the highest standards of excellence (in the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, to embark on a ‘‘quest for excellence’’) in engineering education and research, while attaining national relevance. Great emphasis placed by the Government since independence (1947) on education in science and technology has indeed paid rich dividends, as it is evident from the quality of engineers who graduated from the engineering institutions of this country and their contributions and achievements. In spite of the inordinate difficulties the education system in India faces, the contributions made by engineering graduates from India in the forefront areas in science and technology have already earned adulation the world over and the quality of education in science and technology in India is considered to be one of the best and many institutions of science and engineering managed to attain a standard of excellence and evolve themselves into ‘‘world-class institutions’’. More importantly, the scientists and engineers of this country have contributed in great measure in bringing about the three revolutions: the Green, the White and the Information/Knowledge revolution, which we are currently witnessing. Moreover, they are responsible for providing a strong technological and scientific base for the enormous industrial activities and research programmes currently being carried out which bestowed on India a distinctive identity among the developing countries. Efforts have been made to study the phenomenon of the ‘brain drain’ empirically in terms of quantifying its magnitude by providing firm statistics both at the Undergraduate level (Sukhatme and Mahadevan 1998) as well as at the Postgraduate level(Sukhatme 1990) at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, by identifying its causes, and suggesting measures to keep it in check. These studies looked into both the phenomena of the ‘real brain drain’ in the sense of the outflow of talents from the country as well as the ‘internal brain drain,’ meaning the phenomenon of the shifting of many engineers from engineering to non-engineering occupations with little or no application of the previously acquired training. Considering the effect of these brain drains on long-term economic growth and the consequences for economic productivity, such migrations has often been viewed by some as ‘‘unethical’’ and even ‘‘unpatriotic.’’ Phase IV (1991–to date) ushered India into an era of momentous changes in terms of economic (such as liberalization, globalization and international competition), social (increasingly diverse population and new aspirations of various social groups), environmental, and technological (in terms of the introduction of new technologies, such as Information Technology, Bio-technology, Nano Technology and the
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enhancement of knowledge in many traditional areas of engineering). These changes are going to radically alter the manner in which technical education will function in future to suit new conditions and needs. Institutions of technical education that do not develop the flexibility to change quickly may not have a place in the future scenario. It is widely recognized that major changes are necessary with a view to formulate an integrative curriculum that will promote interdisciplinary skills and emphasize its relevance to real-life problems. Engineering and science are, by their very nature, humanistic and socially derived enterprises. This would mean that apart from imparting knowledge of the most recent developments in engineering, the curriculum is built upon the foundations of the basic sciences and incorporates an understanding of man, society, and human values. The inflexibility and complete separation of technical knowledge and value education in the earlier curriculum would be unacceptable today to the designers of engineering curricula as well as the consumers of technical education in both industry and government. An ideal engineering curriculum must meet these challenges in the new millennium by engendering a new paradigm that is required for higher engineering education. The paradigm must not only stress the importance of quality technical education and humane thoughtful applications of science and technology to attain a sustainable development of the country. It should create an ambience from which a new brand of leaders and innovators with social and cultural awareness and sensitivity to human values and commitment will emerge. The strategies for integrating technical education with value education should follow from this paradigm.
National Needs and Expectations from Science and Technology The most urgent task at the time of India’s independence was to wipe out hunger, poverty and the unemployment of the masses. Needless to say, this urgent task continues even until today. Full reliance was placed on science and technology to provide an efficient means of material growth to meet the urgent national goal. In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru (Nehru 1946, p. 292), one of the founders of modern India, ‘‘It is science alone which can solve the problem of hunger and poverty, of sanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening customs and traditions, of vast resources running to waste, of a rich country inhabited by starving people. Who can afford to overlook science today? At every turn we have to seek its aid. The future belongs to science and those who make friends with science.’’ These sentiments were reflected in national policies and in the successive 5 year plans for guiding economic and social developments in a planned manner. A string of national laboratories, headed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research were established to promote scientific and industrial research. Simultaneously a network of Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), National Institute of Technology and other institutions of higher education were created to promote teaching and research of a high quality. As a result, scientific and technological knowledge base as well as the manpower increased substantially. The stock of scientific and technological personnel in India which stood at less than 2 lakhs (0.2 millions) in
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1950 now stands at nearly 12 lakhs (1.2 millions). The numbers employed in Research and Development (R&D), which was negligible at the time of independence now stands at 1.5 lakhs (0.15 millions). As a result of these initiatives in promoting Science and Technology, India has made significant progress in the principal economic areas of agriculture, core industrial production, services and export. India now is almost self-sufficient in them. Same is the case in the relatively modern areas like atomic energy, space technology, and information and communication technologies. As a result, there has been substantial improvement in the key parameters of quality of life and of human development; education, life expectancy, access to health care system, employment opportunities, child mortality rate, female literacy level etc. With the quickening pace of development and technological growth, there has also been shift in the perception of the national needs and expectations from Science and Technology (S&T). This is reflected in the change of emphasis in the national policy statements, for example the Technology Policy Statement of 1983. The New Economic Policy and the New Industrial Policy of 1991 reflect another set of priorities. They bring in concepts of liberalization, globalization and privatization. They also emphasize concern for quality, competitiveness, customer orientation etc. This is reiterated in the Science and Technology Policy 2003. Meeting the challenges of international competition would require quantum jumps in levels of productivity, quality, reliability and innovativeness and the academic institutions will all have to cooperate synergistically to achieve both the issue of output and distribution of national wealth equitably and justly. There is another direction from which serious challenges are being placed before science and technology. These include concern for the deteriorating quality of environment due to rapid technological growth, depletion of natural resources, technological hazards to human health, safety and wellbeing, authoritarian nature of centralized mega technologies etc. These concerns and challenges have given rise to newer concepts like eco-friendly or ‘green’ technology, human centered technology, democratic governance of technology, techniques of energy conservation, conservation of non-renewable resources etc. Thus, it is no longer sufficient for engineers to confine their attention and expertise only to the narrow area of technical aspects of their profession. They are now being held more and more accountable for the social, environmental and human consequences of technology as well. Engineering students have to be made aware of these problems and have to be equipped to find adequate and acceptable response to these challenges. That would require integrating social concerns and ethical human values with scientific and technical education of engineers.
Integrating Ethics and Values with Technical Education System There are two issues with regard to taking effective measures for achieving this goal of integration: one relates to what would be the appropriate quantum of nonengineering value oriented component in the engineering curriculum and the other
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concerns the question of devising appropriate strategies for integrating the nonengineering with the engineering component. The American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in their report entitled ‘‘Engineering Criteria 2000’’ recommended that a total of eight courses, or 22.2 % of the curriculum, should be devoted to the study of humanities and social sciences facilitating exposure of engineering students to ethical issues and their awareness of social responsibilities. As compared to their figures, the time devoted to the courses offered by the department of Humanities and Social Sciences (H&SS) in engineering curricula in our country is only 2–3 % in the Universities and up to 10 % in the IITs. Nevertheless, the students in technical education feel overburdened with the already heavy engineering curriculum in India and have shown little interest. Often they distance themselves and have contempt for non-technical/non-engineering components of the curriculum. Hence, any realistic effort in integrating value education with technical education should demonstrate that the former emanates from within the topics comprising technical education and not added forcibly and artificially from without. Michael Davis (2006), a pioneer of ‘teaching-ethics-across-engineering-curriculum’, has developed an approach where technical topics, say, in thermodynamics or mathematics, could be used to integrate ethics into engineering by enlarging the context. A theoretical engineering problem, say in thermodynamics can be given a realistic context and thus turned into a ‘mini-design problem’, where the student has to make an engineering decision. The factors that go into making this decision could include issues relating to environment, safety and public welfare. Hence, Davis argues that ethics need not be an add-on. It can work like an alloy, adding strength to the course without adding anything in volume. In spite of these efforts the possibility of integrating technical education with value education is under suspect because of certain deep-seated theoretical reasons.
Skepticism About Value Education There is a widespread skepticism and extreme cynicism among the students and professionals in engineering, and even among some scholars regarding the importance, desirability and effectiveness of value education for engineering students and the social obligation of the professional engineers and their commitment to abiding ethical norms. Skepticism Among the Students and Professionals: Over-Specialization and Narrow Focus In the present approach to the engineering curriculum, immense value is attached to the technical problem solving skills. Some educationists (Peters 1969; Reid 1962) feel that this exclusive emphasis on sticking to ‘facts’ and the problem-solving skills at the expense of developing the ‘‘perceptive’’, ‘‘judgmental’’ and ‘‘affective’’ aspects of the educational process has caused intellectual fragmentation and resulted in artificial separation and conflict between scientific-technical knowledge and values.
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However, the irony of the present education programmes in engineering is that whereas it really intends to impart ‘nothing but facts’ and to remain neutral regarding any attempts to incorporate discussions about their technical discipline, it creates in the process of teaching, a vacuum. In the absence of any conscious attempt at providing an over-view of science and technology and thereby protecting students from narrow blinkers or naı¨ve euphoria just as much as from the false and hostile ideas about science and technology, this vacuum is filled up by many misconceptions. As a result, myths about science and technology abound and a mystique of science and technology prevails. Misplaced Attitudes: ‘Scientism’/‘Technocracy’/‘Techno-centrism’ What are some of these misconceptions? First, many feel that value is detached altogether from the world of facts and becomes only a function of decision, a view championed by David Hume (1740) in his classical formulation of the ‘is’-‘ought’ issue (i.e. ought cannot be legitimately derived from is). Secondly, since Bacon in sixteenth century the view that knowledge is power has turned science and technology into a means to gain control over nature. Consequently, many subscribe to the naı¨ve euphoria that all our problems—disease, poverty, and hunger—can be done away with by the deliberate application of the knowledge in science and technology. Technology is seen as the motor of progress, the source of permanent prosperity, and the promise of utopia in our time. However, it is also a fact that science and technology have caused strains on our society. Many have exposed the ill-effects of technology in terms of robbing people of their jobs, their privacy, their hope of living in a pollution-free environment and even in the end of their dignity as human beings. These influential views and attitude about omni-potency and infallibility of science and technology are the direct products of the narrow, isolated and overspecialised science and engineering education. These narrow views may be given a common name, i.e. ‘scientism’ or ‘technocracy’/‘techno-centrism.’ Skepticism Among the Scholars The skepticism of the scholars (Newton 1989), expressed mainly by organizational analysts, is based on the legitimacy of the linkage between the concepts ‘‘profession’’ and ‘‘obligation’’ or ‘‘responsibility.’’ They claim that there is hardly any agreement on the traits that define professions and hence, wonder whether there are such things as professions at all. Moreover, they assert that norms bind all citizens or rational beings and question whether there can be any norms or set of norms that bind the professionals and professionals alone. They point out that there has never been any vital connection between professions and their commitment to serve. According to them a more fruitful exercise would be to use empirical methods for giving an accurate description of what so-called professionals are actually doing. (Andrews 1969, pp. 49-60)
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Arguments Rebutting the Skepticism About Value Education There are some strong arguments in favour of integrating technical with value education rebutting the skepticism. Some of these arguments are: Rebutting the Is-Ought dichotomy Any satisfactory account of human action must start from the idea that ought and is interpenetrate. Any human action involves an understanding of human nature and its potentialities, and reflection on values and obligations. Secondly, many believe that science and technology are concerned with completely objective and pure description and therefore, should be considered the only authority for belief, the only source of reliable information and only basis for practical knowledge. However, evidences from cognitive psychology and the history of science show the theory-ladenness of scientific observation, especially when it is ambiguous or degraded or when it requires a difficult judgment. The claim of value-freedom and objectivity of scientific knowledge has been questioned by the sociologists of knowledge as well. Interlacing of is-ought takes place in the concept of ‘profession’ as a social institution. Profession as a Social Institution Although one might be concerned with describing only what professionals are actually doing, but, based on John Searle’s celebrated distinction between ‘brute’ and ‘institutional’ facts (Searle 1969), some scholars such as Camenisch (1983) and Emmet (1966) argue for an integration of ‘institutional’ facts and ethical issues. Camenisch (1983, p. 11) says: …when the ‘‘facts’’ we are describing are social or institutional facts, including various kinds of relationships individuals and groups enter into among themselves, then the oughts, the shoulds, the norms—in the forms of promises or other commitments made, the obligations willingly entered into, the expectations knowingly engendered—are often an integral and even an essential part of those arrangements which must be included in any adequate description of those social realities Profession and Adherence to Certain Norms of Behaviour, its Responsibilities and Obligations Adherence to the commitments made, assurance and undertaking given and promises and pledges offered create a moral binding contract that must be honored by the concerned individuals and the breach of such contract reflects inanity, lack of character or moral fatuousness, which is unbecoming of a moral human being. Professionals do make commitments, such as assurance to provide expert services, giving an undertaking not to harm people and environment, etc., which tacitly bind them to certain norms of behaviour. But, how do the concepts ‘profession’ and ‘responsibility’ or ‘obligation’ get linked?
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Any discussion on professional responsibility and obligation must start with the concept of ‘profession’ itself and then moves on to show how its link with ‘responsibility’ or ‘obligation’ gets established. Profession and its Characteristic Features Although there is no generally accepted definition of ‘profession’, Bayles (1988, pp. 28–29) has identified three necessary features of a profession: (a) extensive training that (b) involves a significant intellectual component in the form of a high degree of generalized systematic knowledge, and (c) puts one in a position to provide an important specialized service to the society. Often, a profession is differentiated from an occupation or trade in terms of the feature (b). Feature (c) relates profession to institutionalization of expertise and social responsibility. Profession as Institutionalization of Expertise Professions such as engineering, medicine, law etc. refer to certain types of occupation with a high degree of expertise that delineate the jurisdiction over a set of tasks that proceed from the expertise of the specific profession. Of course, the jurisdictional claim over a given domain of expertise may change with technological advancements and organizational or political developments giving rise to new domains or trends in the expertise, its subdivisions or even its obsolescence. Professionals may work alone. However, the trend in modern societies has been towards creating a coherent occupational group or institution with specific expertise, such as the Institution of Engineers (India), IEI. Thus, professionals characteristically work in an institutional setting and professions are products of institutionalization of their expertise. (Hughes 1965, pp. 9-12) Institutions and Role Relationships According to sociologists, institutions consist of more or less stable networks of roles that arise and change as human beings interact. G.H. Mead was responsible for introducing the notion of ‘role’ in its sociological sense (Mead 1934). A role is a position one occupies or a capacity in which one acts within a social relationship that is (a) neither transitory nor spontaneous, and (b) associated with a pattern of conduct—a more or less diffuse notion of appropriate conduct—recognized ‘in the breach as well as in the observance’ (Wueste 1994, pp. 11–12). Although sociology and ethics are believed to be distinct, the former is held mainly to be descriptive and the latter normative, they are, in fact, yoked together. According to Dorothy Emmet (Emmet 1966) the reason for this is that both the studies are concerned with ‘situations’ which are not just physical facts, but facts of social relations with conduct as rule directed and morality as needing to take account not only of personal considerations, but the rules or roles of the agent (Emmet 1966, pp. 138–139).
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Roles and their Morality and Social Responsibility A role performance is the enactment of a relationship of a specific kind (e.g. expert— client). In a given context there will be a certain way of enacting a role that will be considered appropriate since the notion of norm of behaviour is built into the notion of role. A profession is an occupational group, whose members perform a specific role relationship. An expert such as a consulting engineer or a physician is not just a stray individual, but the occupant of a social role bound by certain norms of appropriate behaviour determined by the institutionalized professional body to which she/he belongs. Thus, professions constitute sub-communities within a society with their own norms of behaviour, but share the fundamental values, goals, and aspirations of the society.
Theories of Motives for Moral and Social Obligations of the Professionals What makes professionals fulfill moral responsibilities and social obligations? What are the motives that drive them to act morally and responsibly? These questions are closely related to theories of human motivation in general. However, they also have a specific context for engineers and other professionals, working in industrial and commercial enterprises. Their moral temper is very much shaped by the ruling socio-economic theories of business and commercial system. Let us briefly examine some of these theories: i.
Epicurean theory of motivation: hedonism and psychological egoism
Epicurus (c 341 BC–271 BC), one of the major philosophers in the Hellenistic period, differed with Aristotle by claiming pleasure as the highest good (identifying Aristotelian concept of happiness with pleasure) and asserting that human action is guided primarily by the search for pleasure. Even virtues, justice or any form of social obligation are valued entirely on instrumental grounds. If one is unjust he will be punished if he is caught, and that even if one is not caught, the fear of being caught will still cause pain. ii.
Self-interest maximization and Sen’s interpretation of Adam Smith
An influential view affecting the organized economic activities of the modern times is the self-interest maximization theory of motivation. According to the received view, Adam Smith (1723–1790) advocated this theory. In his An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Smith 1776) Smith seems to have claimed that professional life is guided mainly by the value of and self-interest with minimal moral restrictions. The following highly quoted passage by Smith is cited to substantiate that he indeed held this view: It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address
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ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages. R.H. Campbell and A.S. Skinner (eds.) (1976, pp. 26–27) In another book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), Adam Smith is claimed to have referred to still another set of supportive motives of the professionals, viz., their lust and greed for wealth, power and privileges [Raphael and Macfie (eds.) (1976, p. 83 and p. 235)]. He also warned against unnecessary intervention by the state. Based on exegesis, Amartya Sen identifies the context of the quotation cited above from Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Sen (1987) shows that it is from the chapter dealing with division of labour where Smith is concerned with the grounds and modalities of normal transactions in the market as well as division of labour. Sen asserts: But the fact that Smith noted that mutually advantageous trades are very common does not indicate at all that he thought self-love alone, or indeed prudence broadly construed, could be adequate for a good society. Indeed, he maintained precisely the opposite (Sen 1987, p.23) Smith argues in his The Theory of Moral Sentiments that the conception of good behaviour requires humans constantly to restrain self-seeking by judging their actions from the perspective of fair and impartial spectator. Sen (1987) goes on to show that Adam Smith’s understanding of ‘moral sentiments’ had roots in the Stoics. This is the reason why Sen claims that concepts such as ‘selfcommand’, ‘self-discipline’(especially in the Stoic approach to suppression of emotions, see Nussbaum (1986)) and ‘sympathy’ were so important in Smith’s conception of good behaviour, especially while dealing with human misery, such as famine resulting from the aberrations of the economic process involving the market system, without being caused by ‘real scarcity’ (Smith 1776). Adam Smith says: Man, according to the Stoics, ought to regard himself, not as something separated and detached, but as a citizen of the world, a member of the vast commonwealth of nature, and to the interest of this great community, he ought at all times to be willing that his own little interest should be sacrificed. (Smith 1759, p. 140) Thus, Adam Smith reconciles his approach to self-interest and market system with the promotion of overall social benefits by an appeal to ‘an invisible hand’ that leads one ‘to promote an end which was no part of his intention’, i.e. to advance the cause of basic decency, fair play, fair competition which are necessary for maintaining the market system. The wise and virtuous man is at all times willing that his own private interest should be sacrificed to the public interest of his own particular order or society and adhere to basic decency and fair play in the pursuit of wealth. (Smith 1759, p. 235) Although Smith undermines the importance of concepts of ‘benevolence’ and ‘altruistic motive’, he assigns a central role to ‘sympathy’ as a means to promote
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happiness and wellbeing of others. For Adam Smith, ‘sympathy’ is the bridge between self-interest maximization and one’s concern for common good. iii.
Institutionalization of responsibility and efficiency: Kenneth J. Arrow The second issue concerns the question of efficiency. It boils down to the issue whether institutionalization of social responsibility in terms of say, ethical codes, statutes, administrative regulations of duties, rights, privileges, immunities, etc. brings success to the organization and enhances efficiency rather than the members of the organization acting exclusively in a self-interested manner. Kenneth J. Arrow in his article ‘Social Responsibility and Economic Efficiency’ argues that (1) ‘‘the simple rule of maximizing profits is socially inefficient’’ and (2) the institutionalization of social responsibility does make ‘‘a great contribution to economic efficiency.’’ (Arrow 1973, p. 313 and p. 399) According to Arrow, professional relationship represents an epistemically unequal relation where there is a very large difference in knowledge between the expert and the client. Nevertheless, there is a strong presumption that the expert will follow the ethical code and perform to a large extent with the client’s welfare in mind. For Arrow the asymmetric epistemic relation notwithstanding a ‘‘generally understood definition of appropriate behaviour’’ or a formal code of ethics and not necessarily an appeal to individual conscience, restrains the expert in acting out of total self-interest and puts a limit to the possibility of exploiting the hapless client. Arrow claims that this generally understood notion of appropriate behaviour is the source of benefit for both the expert and the client and the basis for the credibility, viability of the profession and economic efficiency of the organization. iv.
Libertarian theory and Milton Friedman Milton Friedman, a monetary economist and libertarian policy guru, considers himself a ‘‘limited-government libertarian, and not an anarchist libertarian.’’ Two books authored by him and his wife (Friedman 1962 and 1979), Capitalism and Freedom and Free To Choose, advance profound and convincing arguments for repealing most government interference in the economy. He argues that the considerations of justice should be minimal in order to guarantee individuals the right to pursue their economic self-interest without much interference from government and society. Consistent with his libertarian views, Friedman claims that maximization of profit is the social responsibility of business. There are several arguments which show that this claim cannot be sustained. First, in his paper entitled ‘The Social Responsibility of Business Is To Increase Its Profits’, Friedman adds several caveats himself, such as business should maximize profits within the bounds of law and ‘ethical custom’, implying that business should show due consideration for human beings and the wider community (Friedman 1996, pp. 8-12). This view was enunciated earlier in another paper (Carson 1993, pp. 3–32). Secondly, it was further pointed out that professionals, including businessmen are often viewed as ‘‘fiduciaries’’ or functionaries vested with public trust (May 1994, pp. 67–82 and Hardwig (1994, 83–101)). May says that ‘‘a ‘fiduciary relation’ establishes a
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situation where various professionals ‘in equity and good conscience’ are bound to act in scrupulous good faith and with due regard to interests of one (i.e. the client) reposing the confidence and trust on another i.e. the expert’’ (May 1994, p. 79). While dealing with the issue of ethics of expertise, Hardwig (1994, p.89) maintains that our notion of rational behaviour implicit in the relationship of expert-client (lay person) involves an ineluctable element of trust. Finally, Bowie (1988) has drawn attention to the fact that narrow profit seeking is self-defeating. The reference to the moral considerations mentioned above explains why a pure libertarian theory in the version defended by Friedman is self-defeating.
Paradigm Shift in the Understanding of Human Motivation and Action, and Convergence of Multiple Motives There is a paradigm shift (Sztompka 1999) from consequentialism, instrumental, positivistic theories of motivation and action advocated mainly, by behaviourism, utilitarianism, exchange theory, game theory and rational-choice theory towards social-welfare, cultural and normative explanations of motivation and action in terms of rules, codes, norms, values, frames, and forms of discourse by symbolic interactionism, phenomenology and welfare theory. This shift amounts to moving away from a theory of motivation and action based on the assumptions of ‘homo economicus’, i.e. purely rational, constantly calculating, consistently maximizing profit and minimizing cost towards a richer picture in which the theory includes concepts, such as values, norms, culture, meaning, authenticity, social bonds, attachments, loyalties, identities, empowerment, capabilities and freedom. Sociological Approach: Emile Durkheim and Max Weber The precursors of this paradigm are two sociologists: Emile Durkheim (1858/1917) and Max Weber (1864–1920). Sociologists attempt to make sense of people’s behaviour or action in terms of ‘social facts’ (Durkheim 1895, 1912). In his book The Rules of the Sociological Method Durkheim says: When I fulfil my obligations, as brother, husband, or citizen, when I execute my contracts, I perform duties which are defined externally to myself and my acts, in law and custom. Even if they conform to my own sentiments and I feel their reality subjectively, such reality is objective, for I did not create them; I merely inherited them…. Durkheim suggests two important factors governing social action, viz. values and norms. It is the norms and values of any given social group which have enormous impact and influence on individual patterns of thinking and behaving. They have in effect, a reality above and beyond individual members of society and have a coercive power on the individual. The term ‘value’ is used by Durkheim to describe collective, ethical ideals and beliefs. For Durkheim norms, though somewhat difficult to distinguish from values, express more tangible and concrete ways of thinking,
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feeling or acting which reflect sets of beliefs. Norms essentially express a moral code. They refer to behaviour conceived of as ‘right’, ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ by a particular social group in a given context (Durkheim 1890/1900). Max Weber (1864–1920) in his book, Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretative Sociology (Weber 1922) classified action in the following four types: traditional, effectual, value-rational and end-rational. Value rational action is characterized by the striving for some substantive goal, which in itself may not be rational, but which is nonetheless pursued with rational means. For example, the Calvinist who seeks the attainment of salvation (non rational end) resorts to ascetic self-denial in pursuit of holiness (rational means). In his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Weber 1904) Weber claims that one of the fundamental elements of the spirit of modern capitalism is the rational conduct on the basis of the idea of the calling. Committed Behaviour: Amartya Sen Sen points out that self-interest maximization theory of motivation raises two important issues: (a) the question whether people actually behave in an exclusively self-interested way and (b) if people behaved in an exclusively self-interested way, would they achieve certain specified success, e.g. efficiency of one kind or another. The main issue relating to (a) is whether self-interest alone drives human beings or whether there is plurality of motivations. Sen is in agreement with Adam Smith and has advanced convincing arguments himself (Sen 1984) to show that normal economic transactions would break down if self-interest played no substantial part in our choices. However, Sen points out that apart from individuals …groups intermediate between oneself and all—such as class, community or occupation groups—provide the focus of many actions involving committed bahaviour. …The mixture of selfish and selfless behaviour is one of the important characteristics of group loyalty… (Sen 1987, p. 20) Example of asymmetric sacrifices can be found in some members, especially in women (Sen 1985 p. 6), in the traditional Indian families. It can also be seen in kinship relations; collusive action on the part of pressure groups agitating for concessions that help the interest of all members, even though many agitators may also be willing to sacrifice some personal gains for the cause of the group (Aumann and Kurz 1977)—group-loyalty in the Japanese ethos in many types of economic activities involving team work by several people (Morishima 1982; Dore 1983, 1984). Plurality of Motivation and their Convergence Amartya Sen talks about convergence of the plurality of motivation and committed behaviour, linking economic behaviour to ethics (Sen 1987). Departing from the utilitarians in their emphasis on maximizing utility, Sen develops a notion of wellbeing based on empowerment, substantive freedom and on people’s capabilities to choose by assessing social arrangements, the lives they have reasons to value (Sen 1987, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985).
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Cognitive and developmental psychologists, such as Erik Erikson, Abraham Maslow, Lawrence Kohlberg and Mary Midgley have pointed out that multiple motives—self-interest, benevolence, altruism, humanitarian—merge and interweave in human nature and conduct. Kohlberg studied the development of moral maturity and found that an individual advances through stages of sophistication in understanding and handling ethical issues. Mary Midgley in her Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature says: [human nature] consist of a number of motives which are genuinely distinct and autonomous, but which are adapted to fit together, in the normal maturing of the individual, into a life that can satisfy him as a whole. (Midgley 1995 p. 331) While talking about the ubiquity of multiple and mixed motives of the professionals Mike W. Martin, (Martin 2000) in his book Meaningful Work: Rethinking Professional Ethics mentions three important motives that guide the professionals: craft motive (i.e. the desire to achieve expertise and to manifest technical skill, theoretical understanding, and creativity), compensation motives (i.e. the desire to receive social rewards typically in the form of income and social status or prestige) and moral concerns (i.e. commitment to provide services say, safe technological products and act with professional integrity based on a relationship of trust, trustworthiness, confidentiality, caring, well-being and concern for clients, employers, the wider public, and the environment). It is true that compensation motives may sometimes be self-directed and yet they often become linked to the well-being of family and community, craft and moral concerns fusing professional excellence with ethics. According to Martin the key to the convergence of these three motives in a professional life is the strong desire in each individual to lead an authentic life. Referring to Charles Taylor’s book The Ethics of Authenticity (Taylor 1992) Martin maintains that the ‘malaises of modernity’ are extreme form of individualism and the resultant decline of meaning.
Codified and Supererogatory Paradigms of Social Responsibility of the Professionals In what way do the individual motives, goals, and ideals get transformed, are translated into or contribute to professional responsibilities? Where does one locate the grounds of professional responsibilities? There are two paradigms of grounding professional responsibilities: A. Codified Ethical Standards Consensus Paradigm of Institutionalizing Social Responsibility Professional responsibility and right conduct can be grounded on a set of commonly shared principles or mandatory requirements developed on the basis of a consensus
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within a profession and imposed on all its members uniformly. Traditionally these shared principles assume two forms: public Pledges or Oaths and the Code of Ethics. Public Pledge-based Theory of Responsibility: Engineer’s Hippocratic Oath In analogy with the professional principles contained in the ‘Hippocratic Oath’ in medicine. The institutions and schools of engineering in modern times also require their graduates to take a similar public pledge or oath. The public pledge or oath gives assurance that the members of the profession will provide the appropriate service to their clients and meet the relevant standards. It is necessary to emphasise the proposition that a good society is more than an educated one. The awareness of the responsibilities of the engineers and scientists towards the society, contained in the pledge must be integrated with engineering education from the very beginning and at every stage of their education, rather than at the end of their education in the form of a ritual of taking a pledge. Moreover, referring to the pledge made by a professional, Daryl Koehn has pointed out that the core of professionalism rests not on just creating trust but sustaining it. Pledge made once in the beginning of one’s career surly cannot provide an assurance that services will be rendered competently and responsibly for all time to come (Koehn 1994 pp. 54–56, pp. 61–67, p. 153). For an answer to this we must refer to our earlier discussion on the professional as an occupant of a role and the irreversibility of the moral or social responsibilities associated with it. Martin says: Individuals acquire responsibilities when they work in a profession, just as parents acquire responsibilities when they become parents. Neither parents nor professionals can opt out of their responsibilities by deciding not to make a promise to meet them [or by not repeating it over and over again] (Martin 2000 p. 37). Engineering Code of Ethics Technically skilled and creative individuals were there in every society. However, engineering as a formally organized profession is only about century old. In India the first professional society of engineers, the Institution of Engineers (India), IEI, was established in 1920. It incorporated a Royal Charter to ‘‘promote and advance the art, science and practice of engineering and technology.’’ In order to clarify and delineate the scope of the responsibilities of professional engineers all Societies of Engineering adopt a formal Code of Ethics in the model of the ancient Hippocratic Oath. The Institution of Engineers (India), IEI, first introduced the Professional Conduct Rules in 1944. With the changing needs of the profession the code was revised in 1954 and in 1962. In the emerging scenario further revisions were thought to be necessary in view of the added responsibilities of the engineers towards client and the general public, environment and sustainable development. IEI announced the revised Code of Ethics on June 29, 1997.
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The possibility of a given professional group certifying its own ethical code has invited the criticism of ethical relativism. John Kultgen has pointed out that a given code might be incomplete, inconsistent, misguided, distorted by self-interest, or even unconstitutional and therefore, can be misused (Kultgen 1988). Michael Davis, however, rules out ethical relativism by refusing to accept the possibility of group immorality on the ground of the rationality of the professionals, i.e. ‘rational’ persons would only accept ideals that are ‘‘good without qualification’’ (Davis 1987). Nevertheless, both the Engineer’s Hippocratic Oath and the Code of Ethics for the Engineers must be put in the right perspective. The students of engineering or for that matter students in any other area, should be made aware of the responsibilities and obligations towards their profession and the society at large. Hence, value education can be looked upon as an effective tool to intermesh and integrate knowledge in engineering with the meaning of ‘profession’ and its responsibilities. B. Non-communal Supererogatory Paradigm of Social Responsibility of the Professionals Professional morality and responsibility go beyond the statutory. It has been argued that the statutory is something legal, and its fulfillment should be taken for granted; the real ethical obligation often goes beyond that. Upholding higher level technical values, both at individual and organizational levels, should not be looked upon as placing undue restrictions on professional growth, entrepreneurship or financial success of industrial organizations. In fact, empirical studies suggest just the converse. In their masterful study, Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. (1982/2003) trace the outstanding success of top ten American companies to their commitment to high value standards. For example, IBM attaches highest importance to practicing the value of ‘respect for the individual’ and Hewlett Packard to ‘collective team working’. Shaping and nurturing values is seen as a key function of inspiring leadership: ‘‘Clarifying the value system and breathing life into it are the greatest contributions a leader can make. Moreover, that is what the top people in excellent companies seem to worry about most’’ (Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. (1982/2003 p.291) In India too there are several examples of outstanding engineers and industrialists who have set up role models for the new generation by superb combination of professional and business skills with high level values of integrity, fairness and principled leadership qualities (The Times of India (TOI) 2002).
Need for Changing the Scope of Professional Ethics Professional ethics usually lays more emphasis on codified professional standards and relegates personal moral ideals to the domain of the individual. However, there
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is a noticeable shift to widen the scope of professional ethics ‘‘to pay greater attention to personal ideals in understanding professional responsibilities.’’ Martin says: The commitment to [personal moral] ideals may be supererogatory but, once made, it generates specific duties to act on the ideal in practical situations. In addition, moral integrity requires, as a matter of responsibility, that one attempt to live up to commitments to ideals that are central to one’s moral identity (Martin 2000 pp. 48–49) These non-communal supererogatory ideals can and do provide a strong basis for professional ethics. They are often (a) consistent with fundamental moral principles, such as justice, freedom, etc. or norms governing what is sometimes called ‘ethics plain and simple’ and (b) compatible with codified professional standards. Professionals with strong adherence to personal ideals frequently mesh with the corporate environment where codified professional standards prevail, since personal ideals and codified standards are normally mutually reinforcing. There are many instances where such non-communal, personal moral ideals shape a life of dedicated service and have been the source of great inspiration to others. Nonetheless, conflicts may arise. However, they can be constructive and beneficial in terms of generating new insights and creative changes in our understanding of several important issues e.g., the very idea of ‘total loyalty’ of the professionals in performing fiduciary duties to their clients or employers, conflict of interest, the concept of professional distance, the phenomena of weakness of the will, compromise, ‘whistleblowing’ and ‘dirty hand’, the clash between self-betrayal and selffulfillment, to name a few. There is a forceful tradition in Indian thought affirming the search for authenticity in defining oneself, exploring one’s original self, and being true to oneself which unites efforts in finding self-fulfillment and discovering meaning in one’s life and profession with service to others. A life driven by such values is more than outward glamour, social status, and material achievements. We understand such persons ‘‘only when we grasp the value commitments embedded in their motives, character, and world view.’’ Explorations into such values can add a new dimension to the standard conception of ‘professional’ and may supplement and broaden the base of professional ethics. Some of the important concepts of such an extended version of professional ethics are: •
Conscience as acting out of moral responsibility
Conscience has often been construed as a subjective feeling, insight or ‘knowledge’ of right or wrong with an inner compulsion to act morally. Conscience often refers to ‘inner voice’ or one’s own conviction seated in the depth of one’s being. As opposed to the rigid norms or moral codes founded on societal authority, conscience is man’s unique, directly accessible and final source of moral contention. It has been argued by several authors in Conscience: An Interdisciplinary View (Zecha, Gerhard and Paul Weingartner (eds.) (1987)) humans are social beings, not
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isolated atoms and undergoes stages of cognitive moral development. At a mature level, judgments of moral responsibility can be taken as manifestation of conscience, nourished by upbringing, family traditions, collective pro-social norms, and a strong sense of community. One important issue here is to provide operational criteria for distinguishing good conscience from a bad one. This is necessary because reliability of conscience has always been in doubt since it cannot be self-certifying: it varies from person to person, alters by circumstance or training and often subject to impulse or whim. Not all consciences can equal that of a Gandhi or Schweitzer. Surely conscience is an important aspect of non-communal supererogatory paradigm of professional ethics. •
Self-fulfillment
Alan Gewirth, in his book entitled Self-Fulfillment (Gewirth 1998) addresses the concept of self-fulfillment in terms of three conceptions of morality: personalist, particularist, and universalist. He then goes on to show that each type of morality contributes to the values embodied in self-fulfillment. The personalist moralities emphasize the needs, wants and capacities (in the sense used by Aristotle and Amartya Sen) of individual humans. Here the ideal of self-fulfillment is inextricably linked with this notion of virtue morality. The particularist moralities typically stress the special duties owed to love, friendship or community. The universalist moralities are essentially egalitarian, based on the notion that all human beings inherently have dignity and rights. Departing from the two dominant views on morality, viz., the deontological ethics and the ethics of consequentialism or utilitarianism, Alan Gewirth (1998) and Jon Allan Schmidt (2013) develop a conception of morality built on some of the ideas mentioned above, which incorporates such elements as virtue, drive for selfimprovement, disposition to act responsibly, using means that becomes the fountainhead of human flourishing as well as universalisability principle. Gewirth and Schmidt also show that such a conception of morality must be sensitive to context and human conditions, such as poverty and climate change and practical judgments of human rights and self-fulfillment, in particular, resorting to the technology that can alleviate and lessen human suffering of the members of the disadvantaged section of our society. •
Professional Integrity
The meaning of the word ‘moral integrity’ includes: (1) steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code, uprightness, honesty, and sincerity (2) the state of being unimpaired and soundness and (3) the quality or condition of being whole, undivided or completeness. Underlying the notion of integrity there are two unfounded assumptions: first, the existence of an idealised rational principle of consistency and the assumption of strict compliance with it by all rational human beings. Secondly, we assume that there exists an objective, rational, and deliberative self that controls all that we do and harmonizes our roles.
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Using insights and data from cognitive psychology, Daniel Kahneman (the recipient of Nobel prize in economics in 2002) and Amos Tversky have shown that observed behavior demonstrate how human decisions systematically depart from such idealized logical principles by taking heuristic shortcuts (Kahneman, Daniel and Amos Tversky (eds), (1972 pp. 430–454, 1982)). Moreover, the idealized conception of self, feeds on an illusion that human beings are perfectly rational and never faces ambivalent, existential and tragic dimensions of life. This concept of self is far removed from its social and historical context and the hard reality of unequal resources, skills and capabilities. Thus, in view of the possibility of serious conflict between one’s personal and professional roles, it is presumptuous to believe that there will be absolute consistency and coherence. Besides, serious moral situations are fraught with ambiguities and lack total transparency such that it becomes difficult to decide what is good or ethically best. Under these circumstances, we probably have to follow realistic ideals, garner available resources, prioritize in specific contexts where profession and family compete, and choose a course of action that does the least harm rather than do what is morally best. Therefore, each professional will have to work diligently to find the right balance, one that avoids the inherent conflicts and tensions that make it nearly impossible to do both roles well. Thus, we need to replace the narrow conventional notion of ‘integrity’ with a wider concept of ‘overall integrity’ (Taylor 1985 pp. 108–141), (McFall 1987 pp. 4–20), Halfon 1989, Martin 2000 pp. 202–217). The new concept will imply: (1) integrating all major aspects of one’s life, interweaving all major commitments and pursuing them in tandem (personal integrity) rather than simply abiding by duties of compartmentalized spheres of life (leading to an impoverished life) (2) basing ethics on the notion of right balance so as to sustain overall integrity (3) incorporating a pragmatic conception of moral reasoning (4) comprising coherence of character and conduct formed around authenticity and (5) reasonable moral commitment to values that give meaning to work (moral decency). Thus, a professional’s sense of ethical values can never be exhausted by Codified Ethical Standards only. It needs to be harmonized with the fulfilled life of a professional with conscience, a sense of integrity, authenticity and moral decency.
Examples of Efforts in Integrating Value Education and Engineering Curriculum A multi pronged approach may be adopted in institutions of engineering in order to inculcate human values in engineering students. It may involve both curricular learning as part of the course work as well as emphasis given to ‘action learning experiences’. Some examples may be given to illustrate this: Human Values Across Engineering Curriculum: BHU and IITB Courses are currently being taught in a few institutes of engineering across all engineering branches which are either exclusively on human values or contain
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substantial component of material on human values. A separate course entitled ‘Human Values’ has been introduced at Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), now called Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), along with several courses in human values as ‘open electives’. At Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) the following courses, core and electives, are being taught with substantial component of human values. There is a Core Course entitled ‘Introduction to Philosophy’, and there are number of Electives such as ‘Management by Values’, ‘Professional Ethics’ etc. Other institutions of technology have also adopted similar courses. In IIT Delhi a course on ‘Science and Humanism: Towards a Unified World View’ is being offered together with several courses in humanities and social sciences. Moreover, IITD has established an indepedent academic Centre. Action Oriented Programmes The purpose of such programmes would be to provide students with a choice of a number of coherent, broadly interdisciplinary and small-scale application-oriented experiences to put knowledge, expertise and skills in engineering for the benefit of the marginalized and disadvantaged sections of the society, often in the neglected regions in the country. At IITB such programmes aim at bringing the kind of technological know-how at which engineering students excel to find solutions to the issues and problems of the immediate communities. Helping the community with educational problems is one such activity, such as conducting remedial teaching or running PC labs, especially meant for economically disadvantaged and academically deficient students. Such help to deficient students through remedial teaching is absolutely crucial to these students coming from disadvantaged sections of society since the dropout rate of these children from the school is alarmingly high. Several action oriented programmes through well designed projects are in operation, such as providing technical analysis and solution to problems of sanitation, health, medical related problems, pollution, pollution-free transportation on campus, watershed management, small irrigation projects etc. have also been undertaken. A student group called the Group for Rural Areas (GRA) organizes training camps and orientation workshops in rural areas to introduce students to the problems of villages. Cell for Human Values A Cell for Human Values started functioning at IIT Bombay, which aims at developing human values through experiential learning. The Cell has already initiated the following activities: •
Imparting Human Values through Fine Arts based on Gurukul System:
Fine Arts, including music, drama, dance, painting and creative literary work, have been regarded as the cradle of civilization, cultural tradition and human values.
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They nurture creative vision and imagination fundamental to a holistic life. They, especially rigorous training in Indian classical music and dance, also teach students essential life skills, such as perseverance, discipline, commitment, and teamwork. With this hope, musical training in the ancient and tested Guru-Shishya tradition have already been introduced at IITBombay. •
Organising Colloquia and Workshops on Engineering Profession and Human Values:
Eminent engineers and scientists with proven professional integrity, who can inspire and set role models for the new generation of engineers and scientists, are invited to speak on the importance of professional integrity and responsibility in the state of the art technology. I am unable to provide detailed data substantiating how much of the desired end (such as instilling and inculcating values and social consciousness in the engineering students in order to find entrepreneurs and skilled manpower to develop and disseminate technologies relevant for the felt needs of rural society, especially in the neglected regions and among the marginalized and disadvantaged sections of the society), has actually been achieved as a result of the introduction of these courses and ‘actionoriented programmes’. Such data are not systematically gathered and made available. But the very nature of these activities imply that they would have some desired effect. Two Examples of Action Oriented Programmes in IIT Bombay In concrete terms, I can cite the activities of at least two departments at IIT Bombay which are engaged in motivating engineering students in studying, researching and developing technological solutions for the problems India faces, especially problems in rural India. They are the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA) and the Department of Energy Systems and Engineering (ESE) in IIT Bombay. The goal of both of these centres of activities is to conduct relevant research, develop manpower and innovative technologies that are critical for India’s sustainable development and would mitigate the problems of the neglected regions and the marginalized and disadvantaged sections of the society. Examples of a few technological devices fabricated at these centres can be mentioned here: agricultural machines (e.g. paddy thresher, small power tiller, pedal power equipments such as water pump, battery charging unit, potter’s wheel), energy and drudgery saving devices (e.g. solar thermal dryer, paddy dryer and solar cooker, herbal oil extraction devices, bio-diesel), building check-dams for water resource, agro food processing, cost effective renewables (e.g. thin film photovoltaics), low cost solar thermal industrial heating, microbial fuel cells, biorefinery and energy efficient devices and systems, heat pumps, controllers and power electronics. The ESE carries out fundamental experimental work on new materials for energy, system simulation and analysis capabilities. I made some effort to estimate how many of the students in IIT Bombay have been impacted by value education and social consciousness in their pursuits after graduation. The possible avenues for such students in so far as placement after
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graduation is concerned are: government jobs, jobs with the Non- Government Organization (NGOs), entrepreneurship and self-employment. At present, for the development professionals the prospects of decent earnings are not guaranteed in such organizations and careers in comparison with regular jobs in industries or corporate and business houses are not ensured. This lack of job opportunities of a stable job and uncertainties with hardly any assurance for decent earnings pushes students away from plunging into careers oriented towards value based learning with social consciousness. In spite of this, there are many exceptions, at least a substantial group of such students exist, but it is not possible for me at this moment to quantify it. There are, however, at least two studies conducted by visiting scholars (Davies (1998); Hilonga (2013)), which go on to show how the activities of these two centres have succeeded in encouraging and inspiring at least a substantial group of engineering students by inculcating social consciousness and value sensitivity to find technological solutions realistically to India’s genuine social and economic developmental problems prevalent in the neglected regions and among the marginalized and disadvantaged sections of the society.
Concluding Comments Jon Alan Schmidt in his paper entitled ‘Changing Paradigm for Engineering Ethics’ makes a strong case for ‘virtue ethics within engineering’ (Schmidt 2013). Such paradigm would facilitate the engineering curriculum to integrate the professional education with building their ‘moral character’ and steering their (ethical) behavior. This would be possible if their education creates an awareness of the linkage between the increased possibilities of the contribution of the engineering profession in national development and self-sufficiency and institutionalization of expertise, role morality and responsibility. Such education will open a new outlook for engineering education in this millennium and should help engineers to develop a mindset which will enable them to find a right balance between personal needs and social obligations; between institutionalized collective codified ethical standards of professional responsibility and non-communal supererogatory values inherent in virtues, moral conscience, self-fulfillment and integrity. Striking this balance will make their work and individual lives meaningful. It should create an ambience from which a new brand of leaders and innovators with sensitivity to human values, social and cultural awareness will emerge. In the past we looked upon engineering education mainly as a process of producing specialist experts who could find efficient solutions to technical problems presented to them. But in the fast evolving technological society, especially in the developing countries the expectations from the engineers are much more. They are expected to exercise their professional knowledge and skills in a responsible manner for advancing social and human wellbeing and not merely for furthering the economic interest of their employers. That means that they need to be socially and morally competent as well, in addition to being technically competent. They also
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face the future challenges to create a good society. That ought to be the goal of value education for engineers and managers. Acknowledgments I would like to thank the reviewers of this paper for making insightful comments as well as the Editor and S.K. Saksena for their valuable observations on language and style of the paper. I am also grateful to Milind A. Sohoni, Head, CTARA and Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, IITB and Narendra G. Shah, Professor, CTRA, IITB for making certain studies available to me and giving me permission to use them.
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