A Systematic Review on Ethical Leadership in Education
Keywords:
ethical leadership, ethical leaders, systematic review, characteristics, impacts, education
Abstract
The emergence of ethical leadership caught the interest of scholars for its implications in educational contexts. The perceptions of teachers about ethical leadership differ according to educational levels, while principals are often perceived as lacking an understanding of ethical leadership despite practicing it in different ways at the institution. The purpose of this systematic review is to analyze and synthesize different studies from 2010 to 2024 on ethical leadership in education across various levels. During the screening process for the studies anchoring to research questions about the characteristics and impacts of ethical leaders in education, the PRISMA model with the set exclusion and inclusion criteria was used. After the extensive review and careful analysis, four (4) themes emerged as the characteristics of ethical leaders in education: ethical integrity, social responsibility, adherence to professional standards, and spirituality. Moreover, the impacts of ethical leadership were classified into three categories: impacts on the school organization, teachers, and students. In the organization, they are led toward the formation of a collaborative environment, ethical technology integration, a positive school climate, improvements in OCB, and the sustainability of humane and effective education. For teachers, they tend to develop morale, employee engagement, enhanced performance and effectiveness, and high retention and stability. Also, students develop morale, increase student learning outcomes, and foster resilience. Hence, the ethical leadership of school leaders significantly affects the whole organization. Finally, this review calls for future studies about how ethical leadership is applied in education and for investigating its impacts on students.
References
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Aldawsari, R. A. (2020). Ethical leadership behaviors of school principals from teachers’ perspectives in Hafr Al Batin. Faculty of Education Journal Alexandria University, 30(4), 177-199. https://surl.li/waequb
Alemu, B. S., & Abdillahi, B. A. (2020). The perceived views of principals and supervisors towards their ethical leadership in some selected primary schools of Eastern Ethiopia. Humaniora, 11(3), 183-192. https://doi.org/10.21512/humaniora.v11i3.6524
Berges Puyo, J. (2022). Ethical leadership in education: a uniting view through ethics of care, justice, critique, and heartful education. Journal of Culture and Values in Education, 5(2), 140-151. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.24
Brooks, M. C., & Ezzani, M. D. (2022). Islamic school leadership: advancing a framework for critical spirituality. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35(3), 319-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1930265
Cansor, R., Parlar, H., & Türköğlu, M. E. (2021). The effect of school principals’ ethical leadership on teacher job satisfaction: The mediating role of school ethical climate. International Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies, 8(4), 210-222. https://dx.doi.org/10.52380/ijpes.2021.8.4.600
Edwards, D. A. (2022). A case study of ethical leadership and transparency in selected Secondary schools. University of Johannesburg (South Africa). https://www.proquest.com/openview/2722f6f8676111e9e0f015e1a498bac6/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2026366&diss=y
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Geropoulos, P., & Tsioumis, K. (2022). The contribution of ethical Leadership in promoting the educational and learning process in Greece. Journal of Education and Training, 9(2), 70-81. https://doi.org/10.5296/jet.v9i2.19523
Göçen, A. (2021). Ethical leadership in educational organizations: A cross-cultural study. Turkish Journal of Education, 10(1), 37-57. https://doi.org/10.19128/turje.811919
Guo F, Xue Z, He J and Yasmin F (2023) Ethical leadership and workplace behavior in the education sector: The implications of employees’ ethical work behavior. Front. Psychol., 13, 1040000. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1040000
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Ilyas, S., Abid, G., & Ashfaq, F. (2020). Ethical leadership in sustainable organizations: The moderating role of general self-efficacy and the mediating role of organizational trust. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 22, 195-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.03.003
Kaçay, Z., Soyer, F., & Eskiler, E. (2020). Analysis of the ethical leadership behaviors’ effect on life satisfaction and mediation effect of organizational commitment. Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 23(1), 114-123. http://dspace.khazar.org/jspui/bitstream/20.500.12323/4474/1/Analysis-of-the-Ethical-Leadership-Behaviors%E2%80%99-Effect-on-Life-Satisfaction-110-119.pdf
Karim, A., Bakhtiar, A., Sahrodi, J., & Chang, P. H. (2022). Spiritual leadership behaviors in religious workplace: the case of pesantren. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2022.2076285
Karsono, B., Suraji, R., & Sastrodiharjo, I. (2022). The influence of leadership spirituality to improving the quality of higher education in Indonesia. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention, 9(01), 6832-6841. https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsshi/v9i02.06
Kibui, S. M. (2021). The relationship between ethical leadership and student success in community colleges (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Cumberlands). https://www.proquest.com/openview/abbe4f712fe4c8fe1c3eb0a40ae611c6/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Kilag, O. K. T. (2023). The role of principal leadership in enhancing personal development: an analysis of bottlenecks, lags, issues and concerns (BLICS). Science and Education, 4(8), 145-159. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-role-of-principal-leadership-in-enhancing-personal-development-an-analysis-of-bottlenecks-lags-issues-and-concerns-blics/viewer
Negiş Işik, A. (2020). Ethical leadership and school effectiveness: the mediating roles of affective commitment and job satisfaction. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 8(1), 60-87. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijelm.2020.4114
Özgenel and Aksu (2020). The power of school principals’ ethical leadership behavior to predict organizational health. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 9(4), 816-825. https://openaccess.izu.edu.tr/xmlui/handle/20.500.12436/1863
Paharia, P., & Singh, A. (2018). Organization effectiveness as outcome of ethical leadership in higher education: A qualitative content analysis. International Journal of Management Studies, 3(1), 50-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.18843/ijms/v5i3(1)/08
Papaloi, E., Balasi, A., & Iordanidis, G. (2023). Ethical leadership and ethical climate at educational organizations in Europe: depicting the “value” of values. European Journal of Education, 6(2), 119-137. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1414664
Phetsombat, P., & Na-Nan, K. (2023). A causal model of ethical leadership affecting the organizational citizenship behavior of teachers in the office of the basic education commission. Sustainability, 15(8), 6656. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086656
Phuc, T. Q. B., Parveen, K., Tran, D. T. T., & Nguyen, D. T. A. (2021). The linkage between ethical leadership and lecturer job satisfaction at a private higher education institution in Vietnam. Journal of Social Sciences Advancement, 2(2), 39-50. https://doi.org/10.52223/JSSA21-020202-12
Sabir, S. (2020). A study on ethical leadership perceptions and its impact on teachers’ commitment in Pakistan. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 9(1), 28- 53. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijelm.2020.4525
Saifuddin, M. (2023). Charting the course: ethical leadership in the digital age of education. European International Journal of Philological Sciences, 3(10), 01-04. https://inlibrary.uz/index.php/eijps/article/view/25633
Salifu, A. I., Zhu, H., & Rakib, H. (2022). Ethical leadership style and employee job satisfaction: The mediating role of trust and work engagement in the Ghana education service. International Journal of Novel Research in Marketing Management and Economics, 9(2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6536303
Sam, C. H. (2021). What are the practices of unethical leaders? Exploring how teachers experience the “dark side” of administrative leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 49(2), 303-320. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143219898480
Taamneh, M., Aljawarneh, N., Al-Okaily, M., Taamneh, A., & Al-Oqaily, A. (2024). The impact of ethical leadership on organizational citizenship behavior in higher education: the contingent role of organizational justice. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1), 2294834. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2023.2294834
Tiamboonprasert, W., & Charoensukmongkol, P. (2020). Effect of ethical leadership on workplace cyberbullying exposure and organizational commitment. The Journal of Behavioral Science, 15(3), 85-100. https://l1nq.com/OqVyT
Vikaraman et al. (2021). Ethical leadership practices and trust among public school leaders in Malaysia. Asian Journal of University Education (AJUE), 17(3), 174-188. https://doi.org/10.24191/ajue.v17i3.14509
Zacarias, A. M., & Flores, J. E. (2023). Exploring school leaders’ ethical leadership and teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior. Puissant. Advanced online publication. https://tinyurl.com/359yc5e7
Adnan, N., Bhatti, O. K., & Farooq, W. (2020). Relating ethical leadership with work engagement: How workplace spirituality mediates? Cogent Business & Management, 7(1), 1739494. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1739494
Aldawsari, R. A. (2020). Ethical leadership behaviors of school principals from teachers’ perspectives in Hafr Al Batin. Faculty of Education Journal Alexandria University, 30(4), 177-199. https://surl.li/waequb
Alemu, B. S., & Abdillahi, B. A. (2020). The perceived views of principals and supervisors towards their ethical leadership in some selected primary schools of Eastern Ethiopia. Humaniora, 11(3), 183-192. https://doi.org/10.21512/humaniora.v11i3.6524
Berges Puyo, J. (2022). Ethical leadership in education: a uniting view through ethics of care, justice, critique, and heartful education. Journal of Culture and Values in Education, 5(2), 140-151. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.24
Brooks, M. C., & Ezzani, M. D. (2022). Islamic school leadership: advancing a framework for critical spirituality. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35(3), 319-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1930265
Cansor, R., Parlar, H., & Türköğlu, M. E. (2021). The effect of school principals’ ethical leadership on teacher job satisfaction: The mediating role of school ethical climate. International Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies, 8(4), 210-222. https://dx.doi.org/10.52380/ijpes.2021.8.4.600
Edwards, D. A. (2022). A case study of ethical leadership and transparency in selected Secondary schools. University of Johannesburg (South Africa). https://www.proquest.com/openview/2722f6f8676111e9e0f015e1a498bac6/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2026366&diss=y
Edwards, D., Schmidt, M., & Mestry, R. (2023). Core values of ethical leaders in South African schools. South African Journal of Education, 43(si2), S1-S11. https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.15700/saje.v43ns2a2469
Flores, J. E., & Zacarias, A. M. (2024). School heads’ ethical leadership and teachers' self-Efficacy and motivation. Puissant, 5, 1603-1613. https://puissant.stepacademic.net/puissant/article/view/284
Geropoulos, P., & Tsioumis, K. (2022). The contribution of ethical Leadership in promoting the educational and learning process in Greece. Journal of Education and Training, 9(2), 70-81. https://doi.org/10.5296/jet.v9i2.19523
Göçen, A. (2021). Ethical leadership in educational organizations: A cross-cultural study. Turkish Journal of Education, 10(1), 37-57. https://doi.org/10.19128/turje.811919
Guo F, Xue Z, He J and Yasmin F (2023) Ethical leadership and workplace behavior in the education sector: The implications of employees’ ethical work behavior. Front. Psychol., 13, 1040000. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1040000
Hubchen, J., Wyatt, S. L., & Burnett, M. (2024). Ethical leadership: a study of behaviors of leaders in higher education today. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 17(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.22543/1948-0733.1462
Ilyas, S., Abid, G., & Ashfaq, F. (2020). Ethical leadership in sustainable organizations: The moderating role of general self-efficacy and the mediating role of organizational trust. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 22, 195-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.03.003
Kaçay, Z., Soyer, F., & Eskiler, E. (2020). Analysis of the ethical leadership behaviors’ effect on life satisfaction and mediation effect of organizational commitment. Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 23(1), 114-123. http://dspace.khazar.org/jspui/bitstream/20.500.12323/4474/1/Analysis-of-the-Ethical-Leadership-Behaviors%E2%80%99-Effect-on-Life-Satisfaction-110-119.pdf
Karim, A., Bakhtiar, A., Sahrodi, J., & Chang, P. H. (2022). Spiritual leadership behaviors in religious workplace: the case of pesantren. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2022.2076285
Karsono, B., Suraji, R., & Sastrodiharjo, I. (2022). The influence of leadership spirituality to improving the quality of higher education in Indonesia. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention, 9(01), 6832-6841. https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsshi/v9i02.06
Kibui, S. M. (2021). The relationship between ethical leadership and student success in community colleges (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Cumberlands). https://www.proquest.com/openview/abbe4f712fe4c8fe1c3eb0a40ae611c6/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Kilag, O. K. T. (2023). The role of principal leadership in enhancing personal development: an analysis of bottlenecks, lags, issues and concerns (BLICS). Science and Education, 4(8), 145-159. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-role-of-principal-leadership-in-enhancing-personal-development-an-analysis-of-bottlenecks-lags-issues-and-concerns-blics/viewer
Negiş Işik, A. (2020). Ethical leadership and school effectiveness: the mediating roles of affective commitment and job satisfaction. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 8(1), 60-87. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijelm.2020.4114
Özgenel and Aksu (2020). The power of school principals’ ethical leadership behavior to predict organizational health. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 9(4), 816-825. https://openaccess.izu.edu.tr/xmlui/handle/20.500.12436/1863
Paharia, P., & Singh, A. (2018). Organization effectiveness as outcome of ethical leadership in higher education: A qualitative content analysis. International Journal of Management Studies, 3(1), 50-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.18843/ijms/v5i3(1)/08
Papaloi, E., Balasi, A., & Iordanidis, G. (2023). Ethical leadership and ethical climate at educational organizations in Europe: depicting the “value” of values. European Journal of Education, 6(2), 119-137. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1414664
Phetsombat, P., & Na-Nan, K. (2023). A causal model of ethical leadership affecting the organizational citizenship behavior of teachers in the office of the basic education commission. Sustainability, 15(8), 6656. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086656
Phuc, T. Q. B., Parveen, K., Tran, D. T. T., & Nguyen, D. T. A. (2021). The linkage between ethical leadership and lecturer job satisfaction at a private higher education institution in Vietnam. Journal of Social Sciences Advancement, 2(2), 39-50. https://doi.org/10.52223/JSSA21-020202-12
Sabir, S. (2020). A study on ethical leadership perceptions and its impact on teachers’ commitment in Pakistan. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 9(1), 28- 53. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijelm.2020.4525
Saifuddin, M. (2023). Charting the course: ethical leadership in the digital age of education. European International Journal of Philological Sciences, 3(10), 01-04. https://inlibrary.uz/index.php/eijps/article/view/25633
Salifu, A. I., Zhu, H., & Rakib, H. (2022). Ethical leadership style and employee job satisfaction: The mediating role of trust and work engagement in the Ghana education service. International Journal of Novel Research in Marketing Management and Economics, 9(2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6536303
Sam, C. H. (2021). What are the practices of unethical leaders? Exploring how teachers experience the “dark side” of administrative leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 49(2), 303-320. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143219898480
Taamneh, M., Aljawarneh, N., Al-Okaily, M., Taamneh, A., & Al-Oqaily, A. (2024). The impact of ethical leadership on organizational citizenship behavior in higher education: the contingent role of organizational justice. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1), 2294834. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2023.2294834
Tiamboonprasert, W., & Charoensukmongkol, P. (2020). Effect of ethical leadership on workplace cyberbullying exposure and organizational commitment. The Journal of Behavioral Science, 15(3), 85-100. https://l1nq.com/OqVyT
Vikaraman et al. (2021). Ethical leadership practices and trust among public school leaders in Malaysia. Asian Journal of University Education (AJUE), 17(3), 174-188. https://doi.org/10.24191/ajue.v17i3.14509
Zacarias, A. M., & Flores, J. E. (2023). Exploring school leaders’ ethical leadership and teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior. Puissant. Advanced online publication. https://tinyurl.com/359yc5e7
Published
2025-07-10
How to Cite
Capuyan, J. U., & Tabile, S. R. (2025). A Systematic Review on Ethical Leadership in Education. European Journal of Science, Innovation and Technology, 5(3), 221-231. Retrieved from https://ejsit-journal.com/index.php/ejsit/article/view/678
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Copyright (c) 2025 Jernie U. Capuyan, Sharon R. Tabile
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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