Can Professionalism Be Taught?

Today's raw material entering engineering universities has been raised in an environment which condones things that used to be considered immoral, unethical or illegal. With the pressure on modern educators in already crowded curricula, formal courses in ethical and professional behavior have been crowded more and more to the rear. These subjects cannot be taught in the usual classroom manner, given the student and his present attitude. The student who feels it is immaterial how he gets grades as long as he gets them tends to feel the same towards ethical and professional behavior. It is only concentrated efforts by educators and employers that the young engineers can be made aware of the fact that high values of ethical and professional behavior still exist and are desirable attributes in engineers.