Investigating the Mutual Influence of Hidden Curriculum Elements of Professional Ethics among Engineering Students Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM): A Case Study of Shahid Beheshti University

Samadi, Parvin; Yegane, Samane

doi:10.22034/hecs.2026.459745.1928

Investigating the Mutual Influence of Hidden Curriculum Elements of Professional Ethics among Engineering Students Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM): A Case Study of Shahid Beheshti University

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Parvin Samadi ¹

samane yegane ²

¹ Department of Educational Management and Planning, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

² PhD in Curriculum Planning, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/hecs.2026.459745.1928

Abstract

The curriculum, as one of the most complex domains of education, endeavors to teach various types of knowledge and skills to learners and prepare them to accept responsibility in life. Among these, the hidden curriculum in the field of engineering education, although an important issue, has received less attention. Engineering graduates acquire a major part of their engineering ethics through the hidden curriculum in educational environments; therefore, for the proper formation of the professional ethics of engineers and in order to prevent any ethical challenges, it is necessary to know how the process of the hidden curriculum's influence on the formation of the professional ethics of engineering students occurs. In this regard, this research was conducted with the aim of investigating the mutual influence of the hidden curriculum elements of professional ethics among engineering students. The research method was descriptive-correlational with an emphasis on structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the research was all doctoral students of the engineering faculties of Shahid Beheshti University, numbering 321 individuals, and the sample, according to Cochran's formula, was 176 individuals, selected through proportional stratified sampling. Data collection was carried out based on a researcher-made questionnaire whose Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.942, and its face and content validity were confirmed by experts. The findings of the research indicated that the field of practice and the educational system, the educator and the educational system are elements of the hidden curriculum of engineering ethics that have the greatest mutual influence on each other in the implicit teaching of engineering ethics in educational environments. Also, the highest positive and significant influence coefficients of the engineering ethics components of the hidden curriculum were as follows: creating learning motivation on the educator element, empathy on the learning partners element, attention to practical courses on the field of practice element, and preservation of natural and national resources on the educational system element. Also, in general, the results of the research showed that the hidden curriculum is an efficient tool for acquiring engineering ethics and can act as a shield against processes that lead engineering students toward indifference to engineering ethics. The achievements of this research can be used in designing curricula and educational policymaking to strengthen the professional ethics of engineering students.

Keywords

Engineering ethics

hidden curriculum

engineering students

SEM

Subjects

Higher education curriculum planning

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