Faculty response to ethical issues at an American university in the Middle-East

Purpose - The objective of this study is to get feedback on faculty perception of ethical issues related to teaching, scholarship and service at a relatively new American-style university in the Middle-East.Design methodology approach - A questionnaire involving 21 scenarios with multiple choice answers was developed and distributed to all faculty at the institution to get their opinion on the issues. The effects of faculty background, gender, rank, and administrative responsibilities on the obtained responses at the institution were considered.Findings - The findings include: about one-third of the faculty participants were unaware of the university's code of ethics; several of the faculty surveyed stated that they would ignore violations of an ethical code of conduct committed by colleagues; and there was no definite trend observed between the responses of faculty based on their discipline.Research limitations implications - The study is based on a questionnaire; this implies that the faculty responses are mainly related to the questions posed in the questionnaire.Practical implications - The results of the study can be used by the higher administration at similar universities in the region in order to understand and assess faculty members' reaction to situations involving ethical behaviour.Originality value - This work is believed to be the first on faculty perception of ethical behaviour at an institution of higher education in the Middle-East.