‘What do you mean by ethical compass?’ Bachelor students’ ideas about being a moral professional

Abstract

This article aims to explore the moral ideas and experiences that students at Dutch universities of applied sciences (UAS) have of being a professional with an ‘ethical compass.’ Semi-structured interviews were held with 36 fourth-year Bachelor students divided over four institutions and three different programmes: Initial Teacher Education, Business Services and Information and Communication Technology. Findings show that students say they strive to be(come) moral professionals, but that they have difficulties recognising and articulating the moral aspects of their professional roles. They seem to lack a moral vocabulary and the moral knowledge to verbalise their aspirations and to provide arguments to explicate or legitimise their moral behaviour. While most students were critical of the support they received from their universities, they indicated that various other role models and (work) experiences did have a strong and positive influence on their moral development. In this article, we reflect on the findings in relation to international empirical research on students’ moral development and highlight the characteristics of UAS students. © 2020, The Author(s).

Keywords

Author Keywords

Higher education Ethical compass Moral development Moral professionalism University of applied sciences

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, Institute of Human Resource Management and Psychology, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Institute of Human Resource Management and Psychology, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, Netherlands

University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, Netherlands

Funding & Acknowledgements

Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, OCW

This work was supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science [Grant Number 023.006.014] and the Fontys University of Applied Science, Human Resource Management/Applied Psychology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Acknowledgements

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO

Grant: 023.006.014

This work was supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science [Grant Number 023.006.014] and the Fontys University of Applied Science, Human Resource Management/Applied Psychology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Acknowledgements

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO

This work was supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science [Grant Number 023.006.014] and the Fontys University of Applied Science, Human Resource Management/Applied Psychology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Acknowledgements

References 10 References

1 Graduates of Character Values and Character Higher Education and Graduate Employment, (2009)

2 Good Teacher Understanding Virtues in Practice, (2015)

3 Virtuous Medical Practice, (2015)

4 Auvinen, Jaana, The development of moral judgment during nursing education in Finland, Nurse Education Today, 24, 7, pp. 538-546, (2004)

5 Beauchamp, Catherine, Reflecting on an ideal: student teachers envision a future identity, Reflective Practice, 11, 5, pp. 631-643, (2010)

6 Phd Diss, (2011)

7 Bercovitch, Lionel G., Ethics education for dermatology residents, Clinics in Dermatology, 27, 4, pp. 405-410, (2009)

8 Bosma, Niels S., Entrepreneurship and role models, Journal of Economic Psychology, 33, 2, pp. 410-424, (2012)

9 Bowden, John A., A moral compass framework for resolution of wicked problems in doctoral education and supervision, Quality Assurance in Education, 22, 4, pp. 355-369, (2014)

10 Bowen, Tracey, Becoming professional: examining how WIL students learn to construct and perform their professional identities, Studies in Higher Education, 43, 7, pp. 1148-1159, (2018)

‘What do you mean by ethical compass?’ Bachelor students’ ideas about being a moral professional

How to Cite