Abstract
Institutions of higher education have a major role to play in preparing the younger generation for a propitious future. Apart from imparting quality education, they need to instill high ethical values and practices amongst the student fraternity. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the various facets of education and the role of ethics in the field of higher education. An attempt has been made to emphasize and highlight the perspective on the importance of ethics in higher education through a review of literature. A small primary study was also conducted involving the faculty of a few universities in India as respondents. The respondents were administered a questionnaire on “Ethics in Higher Education” to gauge a link between the theory and practice.
Top‘Education’, The First Step Towards Gaining Knowledge
All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind. Real education is that which enables one to stand on his own feet”-Swami Vivekananda, a Philosopher. (speakingtree.in, 2013)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Ethics: Ethics are certain well founded standards of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, expressed in terms of rights, obligations and benefits to the society.
Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is the moral code or ethical policy of academia and includes values such as avoidance of cheating or plagiarism, maintenance of academic standard, honesty and rigor in research and publishing.
Ethical Culture: Ethical culture is the name of an evolving body of ideas that inspires Ethical Societies.
Moral Dilemmas: Moral dilemmas are situations in which each possible course of action breaches some otherwise binding moral principle.
Higher Education: Higher education refers to education beyond school specifically that is provided by colleges, graduate schools and professional schools.
Role Value Ethics: Role value ethics is the display of intended good behavior within the roles defined and accepted by the community in which the individual functions.
Governance: The framework of rules and practices by which a board of directors ensure accountability, fairness and transparency in an organization’s relationship with all stakeholders (financers, customers, management, employees and the community).