Navigating on the Ethical Compass.
Authors:   , van Stekelenburg Mechelina Henrica Maria 
Published: September 2024

This dissertation aims to contribute to knowledge on how universities of applied sciences (UAS) can equip students with an ethical compass by addressing the following central research question: What does it mean and imply to equip UAS students with an ethical compass? To address the main research question, this dissertation answers the following sub-questions: (1) How are ethical compasses defined in the academic literature and which can meaningfully assist (young) professionals and therefore become part of the aims and content of education in UAS? (2) How do students perceive their own ethical compasses and their development? (3) How do students use their ethical compasses during internships? (4) What and how do teachers think they contribute to the development of students’ ethical compasses? The research presented has transformed the ethical compass metaphor into a comprehensive concept. In line with the academic literature on what is expected from moral professionals, we defined an ethical compass as (a) the intrinsic motivation of professionals to act morally; (b) particularly in situations in which they are confronted with ethical dilemmas; (c) according to moral standards and, specifically, the moral standards of their profession. Next to general insights about students’ perception of the ethical compass, we discovered that students’ reactions to ethical dilemmas during internships were most often based on personal beliefs which reflected the ways in which they had constructed their internship contexts, on social relationships and their own (and others’) needs, rather than their ethical compass. Our research for sub-question 4 showed that the majority of the teachers use a wide range of pedagogic–didactic actions (reflecting individual learning and cooperative and group learning) to enhance the development of students’ ethical compasses. However, teachers’ strategies are mostly unstructured and unreflective and depend on the individual teacher’s ability and knowledge to address moral themes. A limitation of the research is the partial success of the random selection of students and the convenience sampling of teachers, which may have introduced a certain bias by attracting respondents who were particularly committed to the study’s subject. The research also led to new questions that we couldn’t address in this research. For instance, how educational institutions and mentors from internships impact the development of students’ ethical compasses as students indicated that a stimulating institutional learning environment, interconnectedness and social interaction, as well as various (real-world work) experiences in a diversity of contexts had contributed most to the development of their ethical compasses. It is also crucial to investigate the influence of power dynamics during internships, as students’ beliefs about how power is distributed appeared to play a significant role in making ethical decisions and moral (in)action. The research has also led to several practical suggestions for UAS. At a policy level, the ethical compass criteria developed in this research could be adopted to offer Dutch UAS a perspective to guide the national discussion on the development of students’ ethical compasses, as they have proven effective for teachers in exploring their role in the moral development of students. At the level of educational institutions, this research can enrich the discussion about the importance of developing (and being) a moral learning community. At the individual level, this research provides insight into the way in which the ethical compasses of individual students could be developed, namely by recognising that they have already formed a personal ethical compass but still need to learn how to apply professional moral standards. The ethical compass criteria form a clear conceptual framework that can help students understand the key components of their own moral (professional) development and cultivate a professional ethical compass.