Alternatives to arms – Finding ethical careers

I don’t want to work for an arms company, what can I do instead?

The Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) website is the best place to start when researching ethical careers.

They have an extensive list of ethical employers, organised by subject area. They even have a short international section.

There’s lots of relevant information on their website; have a browse through their other ethical careers guides and resources here.

How can I find out how ethical a particular company is?

Researching a particular company is a tricky business but one well worth doing if you want to make fully informed career choices.

There are lots of websites and resources which can help you on your way. If you’re worried that the company you’re interested in may be an arms company, then take a look at our guide on ‘Doing more digging‘. Also, take a look at Corporate Watch’s guide to researching UK companies. It’s 10 years old, but a useful overview of ways to look into a company’s activities.

It is also important to consider which particular sectors you might like to work in, and the ethical implications of these. Take a look at the SGR publication ‘An Ethical Career in Science and Technology?’ for an introduction to these issues.

What even is an ethical company?

Good question!

This is a very complicated question and each individual will have a different answer to it.

Some questions worth thinking about are:

• Which practices and industries do you definitely want to avoid involvement in?
• Do you want to work in a particular ‘ethical’ sector, such as green technology, or do you just want to avoid certain companies and sectors?
• Would you be willing to work for a different part of a company that profited from unethical practices such as selling weapons?
• Do you think that it’s possible to change the practices of a company from the inside?

It can be helpful to look at the definitions of ‘ethical’ used by people or organisations that you respect. For example you could look at the Co-operative Bank’s various criteria.

What careers have others chosen before me?

Scientists for Global Responsibility have put together twelve case studies of people choosing ethical careers in science and technology.

Please note that CAAT is not responsible for the content of external websites.