Success in complex and holistic engineering practices requires more than
problem-solving abilities and technical competencies. Engineering
education must offer proficient technical competences and also train
engineers to think and act ethically. A technical ‘engineering-like’
focus and demand have made educators and students overlook the
importance of ethical awareness and transversal competences. Using two
Finnish surveys, conducted in 2014 and 2016, we examine how engineers
perceive working life needs regarding ethics. The data consider
different age groups. We research whether an engineer’s age affects
their perception of the importance of ethics in their work and if there
are differences between young experts and young managers in their use of
ethics within work. The results indicate that practising engineers do
not consider ethical issues important in their work. This especially
applies to younger engineers; the older an engineer, the more important
they consider ethics. No statistically significant difference was found
between young engineering experts and managers.