What role should higher education institutions play in fostering AI ethics? Insights from science and engineering graduate students

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised significant ethical concerns, prompting higher education institutions to reconsider how they prepare future STEM professionals to navigate such concerns responsibly. Despite growing efforts to integrate AI ethics into higher education, a lack of consensus and standardized approaches has led to inconsistent ethics education and disparities in graduates' preparedness for ethical issues related to AI. This study examined the role of higher education institutions in fostering ethical awareness in AI, focusing on institutional responsibilities and strategies as perceived by 95 science and engineering graduate students. Participants engaged in a case-based AI ethics activity, and their responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using inductive content analysis. The analysis identified three key themes regarding students’ views on institutional responsibility about AI and ethics. Most students indicated the essential responsibility of universities, citing their social, professional, educational, and reputational obligations. Others advocated for a shared responsibility, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between academia, industry, and society. A smaller group endorsed a constrained view of responsibility, questioning the feasibility and relevance of AI ethics education within academic settings. Students proposed various strategies for fostering ethical awareness, with standalone ethics courses being the most frequently discussed. Additional recommendations included interactive learning approaches, embedding ethics into curricula, and strengthening institutional leadership. This study underscores the central role of higher education institutions in fostering ethical awareness in AI for science and engineering graduates, with most students emphasizing universities' societal and professional responsibilities. It highlights the need to align ethics education with technical training and professional trajectories in STEM subjects, offering actionable insights for higher education institutions to better prepare graduates for the ethical complexities of AI use and development.