Abstract
With mandates from L’Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and with the collaboration of a public organization employing a few hundred engineers, we were able to document important areas of tension between the professional ideal of engineers and the obligations imposed by the workplace context, in public as well as in private markets. This was particularly the case of engineers that were salaried employees. The tension between market logic and professional logic in these working environments reflects certain problematic aspects concerning the actualization of the professional ideal of engineers. Based on data gathered under these mandates and on the literature of organizational as well as professional ethics, we will first be concerned with the subject of multiple loyalties and the challenges it represents for the salaried engineer considering the actualization of his professional ideal. We will secondly consider two aspects of another phenomenon that obstructs this actualization: the phenomenon of de-professionalization. And finally, we will conclude by exploring certain ways to counter the damaging effects of these obstacles.
This publication profited from the support of the FRQ-SC (Fonds de recherche Société et Culture du Québec), under a grant from the Soutien aux équipes de recherche on the subject of «Institutionnalisation et intervention en éthique».
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
One will find a presentation of the reasons leading the Québec legislator to adopt this system in Legault (1999, pp. 7–38).
- 2.
L. Bégin and A. Lacroix took part in designing this survey and in the interpretation of the results on behalf of the OIQ. An important part of this private survey was made public recently because the OIQ was compelled to give it to the commissioners within the framework of the Commission of inquiry on the construction industry (the CEIC). For reasons of confidentiality, we will return only to the sections made public.
- 3.
The following translations from French are marked only with the abbreviation (a.t.).
- 4.
For reasons of confidentiality, we will not name the organization in question and we will not reveal in a very detailed way the principal results. We will limit ourselves in mentioning only certain data that do not reveal the content of the diagnosis produced for this organization.
- 5.
Freidson affirms this need for independence in a particularly strong way: “Professional ethics must claim an independence from patron, state, and public that is analogous to what is claimed by a religious congregation”. (Freidson 2001, p. 221)
- 6.
A “direct witness” is a person who has seen and/or heard; an “indirect witness” is a person who has heard of certain problems by a credible third person working in the same sector.
- 7.
The order of enumeration of these wrongdoings respects their decreasing order of occurrence. Thus, favoritism is the most frequently observed (38% of the responders), followed by low bidding with catching up (32%), conflicts of interests (31%), fragmentation of the bidding procedures to by-pass rules (24%), bribes (20%), and so on.
- 8.
Three groups show definitely larger numbers than others in witnessing various wrongdoings in the two targeted categories (the granting and the implementation of contracts): (1) the supervisors of building sites, (2) engineers who take part in the process of granting contracts, and (3) engineers who take part in the business development of their company.
- 9.
The Code of ethics of engineers stipulates it clearly: “1.02 In this Regulation, unless the context indicates otherwise, the word “client” means a person to whom an engineer provides professional services, including an employer”.
- 10.
- 11.
We can read a disconcerting testimony of this kind of situation in a text with a revealing title: “I Gave Up Ethics – To Eat!” (Consulting Engineer 1983, pp. 233–238).
- 12.
We use the concept of de-professionalization in a way that differs from that of Freidson (2001, p. 129). Freidson refers to the loss of the status of the profession.
- 13.
Fully realized, ideal-typical bureaucracy is intrinsically at odds with professionalism, since its aim is to reduce discretion as much as possible so as to maximize the predictability and reliability of its services or products. (Freidson 2001, p. 217).
- 14.
One will find nevertheless in Langlois (2008) the results of interviews of design engineers that go in the same direction of the proposals that we are outlining.
- 15.
The Commission notes that in the system in force in 2004 – and which still is – the engineer who calls upon the Direction des structures to obtain an expert opinion remains responsible for following up on the advice obtained. This suggests a relationship between the DS and the DT similar to that of an external consulting firm with its client rather than that of a specialised service providing support to another part of the same organisation, both being accountable for final decisions. This ambiguity of responsibilities has consequences. (Commission of inquiry into the collapse of a portion of the de la Concorde overpass 2007, p. 111). See also p. 101
References
Bazerman, M. H., & Tenbrunsel, A. E. (2013). Blind spots. Why we fail to do what’s right and what to do about it. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Bégin, L., Rondeau, D., & Marchand, N. (2009). L’effondrement du Viaduc de la Concorde: diagnostic éthique préliminaire. Québec: Institut d’éthique appliquée (IDÉA), Université Laval Available at: https://www.idea.ulaval.ca/files/content/sites/idea/files/BeginLuc_2009_RapportVidaucConcorde.pdf Accessed: 01-07-2016.
Bégin, L., Langlois, L., & Côté, M. C. (2014). Diagnostic éthique. Rapport final. Québec: Institut d’éthique appliquée (IDÉA) Private Report. Prohibited Diffusion.
Boussard, V., Demazière, D., & Milburn, P. (2010). L’injonction au professionnalisme, Analyses d’une dynamique plurielle. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
Butterfield, K. D., Trevino, L. K., & Weaver, G. R. (2000). Moral awareness in business organizations: Influences of issue-related and social context factors. Human Relations, 53(7), 981–1018.
Centeno, J., & Bégin, L. (2015). Les loyautés multiples. Mal être au travail et enjeux éthiques. Montréal: Éditions Nota Bene.
Champy, F. (2009). La sociologie des professions. Paris: PUF.
Code of Ethics of Engineers. (2016). Available at: http://legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/ShowDoc/cr/I-9,%20r.%206/. Accessed: 01-07-2016.
Commission d’enquête sur l’industrie de la construction (CEIC). (2015). Tome 3 du Rapport de la CEIC. Stratagèmes, causes, conséquences et recommandations. Québec. Available at: https://www.ceic.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/Fichiers_client/fichiers/Rapport_final/Rapport_final_CEIC_Tome-3_c.pdf. Accessed: 01-07-2016.
Commission of Inquiry into the Collapse of a Portion of the de la Concorde Overpass. (2007). Report. Québec: Publications du Gouvernement du Québec Available at: https://www.bibliotheque.assnat.qc.ca/DepotNumerique_v2/AffichageNotice.aspx?idn=38092. Accessed: 01-07-2016.
Conseil Interprofessionnel du Québec. (2007). Le système professionnel du Québec. Available at: http://www.professions-quebec.org/index.php/fr/element/visualiser/id/12#18. Accessed: 02-07-2014.
Consulting Engineer. (1983). I gave up ethics – to eat! In J. H. Schaub & K. Pavlovic (Eds.), Engineering professionalism and ethics. Florida: Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company.
Dodek, A. (2012). Regulating law firms in Canada. Canadian Bar Law Review, 90(2), 407–409.
Drysek, J. S. (1996). The informal logic of institutional design. In R. E. Goodin (Ed.), The theory of institutional design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Emmet, D. (1975). Rules, roles and relations. Boston: Beacon Press.
Freidson, E. (2001). Professionalism. The third logic. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Gunz, H., & Gunz, S. (2007). Hired professional to hired gun: An identity theory approach to understanding the ethical behaviour of professionals in non-professional organizations. Human Relations, 60(6), 851–887.
Ipsos Descarie. (2011). Éthique et déontologie. Sondage auprès des membres de l’OIQ. Novembre 2011.
Lacroix, A. (2011). L’identité professionnelle en mutation. In L. Langlois (Ed.), Le professionnalisme et l’éthique au travail (pp. 67–81). Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.
Langlois, L. (2008). Une éthique à deux vitesses: dangers et répercussions sur l’identité professionnelle. Pyramides. Revue du Centre d’Études et de Recherches en Administration Publique, 16(2), 33–52.
Legault, G. A. (1999). Professionnalisme et délibération éthique. Sainte-Foy: Presses de l’Université du Québec.
Martin, M. W., & Schinzinger, R. (1983). Ethics in engineering. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Schehr, S. (2008). L’alerte comme forme de déviance: les lanceurs d’alerte entre dénonciation et trahison. Médecine et Hygiène, 32(2), 149–162.
Scott, R. W. (2008). Lords of the dance: Professionals as institutional agents. Organization Studies, 29(2), 219–238.
Solbrekke, T. D. (2008). Professional responsibility as legitimate compromises – from communities of education to communities of work. Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), 485–500.
Sullivan, W. M. (1995). Work and integrity. The crisis and promise of professionalism in America. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Sullivan, M., & Tremblay, L. (2007). Prééminence du Code de déontologie. Les devoirs envers la profession d’abord. Plan. La revue de l’Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, 40–41.
Thompson, D. F. (2005). Restoring responsibility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vanderbroek, F. (1993). L’ingénieur et son code de déontologie. Trois-Rivières: Éditions Juriméga.
White, J., Bandura, A., & Bero, L. A. (2009). Moral disengagement in the corporate world. Accountability in Research, 16, 41–74.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bégin, L., Lacroix, A., Langlois, L., Rondeau, D. (2019). Actualization of the Professional Ideal of Engineers in Québec: A Review of a Few Obstacles. In: Christensen, S.H., Delahousse, B., Didier, C., Meganck, M., Murphy, M. (eds) The Engineering-Business Nexus. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 32. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99636-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99636-3_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-99635-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99636-3
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)