Exploring Staff’s Perceptions of Ethical Leadership Among Department Heads in Sabah, Malaysia: A Quantitative Study
Abstract
Ethical leadership enables PHEIs to build trust and credibility by creating a foundation of respect, credence, and assurance amongst staff, stakeholders, and the community. Further, it promotes a fair, transparent, and supportive environment that increases job satisfaction, making employees more motivated and more likely to stay. Underscoring compliance and ethical behavior, it minimizes risks of scandals, legal problems, and reputational damage. Additionally, it promotes long-term sustainability, ensuring that PHEIs practice ethical, values-driven decision-making that makes them more resilient, equitable, and diverse. The purpose of this study was to examine staff’s perceptions of ethical leadership in Sabah, Malaysia. The sample consisted of 57 administrative and teaching staff from two PHEIs in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, who were asked to complete the Ethical Leadership Questionnaire on Google Forms. Responses were subsequently transferred onto a spreadsheet, and SPSS 29.0 was used to analyze the data. First, ANOVA results revealed no significant age or gender differences in perceived ethical leadership among staff. Second, Wilcoxon signed rank test revealed that all 10 ethical leadership items were significantly different (p < .001) from the hypothesized value of 3.5, indicating strong disagreement. Third, percentages of agreement indicated that only low proportions of PHEI staff tend to strongly agree/agree that their department heads practice ethical leadership. In light of the findings, some recommendations were made on ways that PHEIs could incorporate ethical leadership elements in their day-to-day management.
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