Ethical Leadership: A Study of Behaviors of Leaders in Higher Education Today

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study is to identify the behaviors of an ethical leader as perceived by tenured and tenure-track faculty at a research university (RU/VH) in the southeastern portion of the United States. The authors utilized a researcher-designed survey instrument consisting of twenty possible behaviors attributed to an ethical leader as well as selected demographic characteristics. The majority of respondents were male (66.20%) and tenured (75.00%). The largest group were Full Professors (49.60%) and had been at the study institution for less than l0 years (38.20%). The age and gender of the respondents significantly impacted the findings-older respondents and those that were identified as female had stronger perceptions of the behaviors of an ethical leader in higher education as measured by higher mean responses, based on a Likert scale, to statements in the survey that pertained to types of ethical behavior. Since female faculty seemed to have more clearly focused perceptions regarding the behaviors of an ethical leader, the researcher recommends that the University increase the emphasis on diversity (especially gender diversity) in all aspects of the organization. The increased diversity would include increasing the number of females hired in the tenure-track position, having more females in key committees (especially those formed to hire university leaders), and promoting more females to serve in senior executive positions.