Building the right way: The need and importance of an ethicist in construction engineering

Abstract

Historically, the construction industry has been plagued by substantiated unethical business practices that lead to loss in construction quality, economic damage, loss of reputation, and increased risks in public health and safety. These unethical acts draw negative attention to the industry. In order to curtail unethical business practice in the construction industry, it is critical to make ethical education a cornerstone of the construction engineering curriculum. Students within the discipline must have comprehensive ethics education to ensure that they are capable of making informed, responsible decisions on projects when on the job. Ethics education is important to rectify the issues of unethical practices; it is also a key component to academic program accreditation. Accreditation requires departments and programs to have qualified instructors to develop and teach ethics and integrate it into the core curriculum. The authors posit that departments and programs in construction engineering have an ethicist among their faculty. This scholarly paper outlines the role and characteristics of an effective ethicist using existing literature from within and outside the discipline. The authors suggest that qualified instructors should be ethicists who can fulfill these roles: (1) having a foundation in construction ethics philosophy, (2) teacher/consultant, (3) consultant/teacher, (4) versatility as an educator, and (5) stranger characteristics. Ethicists should master these roles to be effective conveyors to disseminate the information to students. As an ethicist, one must possess the ability to not only be a versatile educator, but one must also have 'stranger" characteristics. The authors of this paper seek to facilitate a broader discussion about the need and importance of employing an ethicist in the discipline and also inspiring new and innovative research around the subject matter.