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Yes, they can. Most engineers (in the US) have to take an ethics course that covers this. Just because your boss says do something, doesn't give you a pass.

ohpea 11y ago
Do you have a source for ethics education and engineering? I've never heard of this being something that most engineers are taught (in the US).
- daheza 11y ago
  http://bulletin.csusb.edu/colleges-schools-departments/natural-sciences/computer-science-engineering/computer-science-bs/ http://bulletin.csusb.edu/colleges-schools-departments/natur... At least at my college it was a required course for a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. CSE 488 Ethics and the Computing Professional
- csarsam 11y ago
  My CS program contains a 1 credit hour course on ethics in computing. I believe this is required as part of the ABET accreditation process: http://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-computing-programs-2015-2016/ http://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/cri...
- allengeorge 11y ago
  Definitely had to take an ethics course when I went to Waterloo (in Ontario, Canada). I believe it's a requirement for a university's program to receive Engineering accreditation. At any rate, all engineers took it.
steve-howard 11y ago
My job title is "Software Engineer," but I have a Computer Science degree. I use the title because that's what people call it, but it's not an engineering discipline. I had to take some ethics-related course work as part of my general education requirements, but this mostly involved reading some philosophy that vaguely related to ethics.
caskance 11y ago
You don't have to have a software engineering degree or an EIT/PE to be a "software engineer". I know plenty of people who have vaguely related degrees like mathematics or statistics that never had to take such courses. And of course there are many autodidacts in the field who studied god knows what.

ohpea 11y ago

Do you have a source for ethics education and engineering? I've never heard of this being something that most engineers are taught (in the US).

daheza 11y ago
http://bulletin.csusb.edu/colleges-schools-departments/natural-sciences/computer-science-engineering/computer-science-bs/ http://bulletin.csusb.edu/colleges-schools-departments/natur... At least at my college it was a required course for a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. CSE 488 Ethics and the Computing Professional
csarsam 11y ago
My CS program contains a 1 credit hour course on ethics in computing. I believe this is required as part of the ABET accreditation process: http://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-computing-programs-2015-2016/ http://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/cri...
allengeorge 11y ago
Definitely had to take an ethics course when I went to Waterloo (in Ontario, Canada). I believe it's a requirement for a university's program to receive Engineering accreditation. At any rate, all engineers took it.

steve-howard 11y ago

My job title is "Software Engineer," but I have a Computer Science degree. I use the title because that's what people call it, but it's not an engineering discipline. I had to take some ethics-related course work as part of my general education requirements, but this mostly involved reading some philosophy that vaguely related to ethics.

caskance 11y ago

You don't have to have a software engineering degree or an EIT/PE to be a "software engineer". I know plenty of people who have vaguely related degrees like mathematics or statistics that never had to take such courses. And of course there are many autodidacts in the field who studied god knows what.