Selected Ethical Issues in the Teaching of Health: Perceptions of Health Education Faculty

Abstract

This study examined faculty members' positions on a series of ethical scenarios dealing with teaching. Survey data from a three-wave mailing from 224 health education faculty found that 61% of the faculty reported their departments had units in health classes on ethical issues. Three out of four faculty perceived that professional organizations' codes of ethics would not be effective in deterring unethical teaching practices. Only about half of the faculty (56%) reported that teaching evaluations are taken into account when they are evaluated for pay raises. Faculty members' ethical stances regarding teaching were explored by chi-square analyses for sex, job responsibility (e.g., teaching vs. research), and whether teaching evaluations were used for yearly raises. No significant differences were found.