Weber’s (1990) limited review of literature about the impact of ethics courses in business programs suggested a positive short-term impact upon practice. Likewise, McCabe, Dukerich, and Dutton (1994) found that there was negligible impact of ethics courses in one MBA program. The findings from the current study tend to support the findings from other professional programs, within the context of educational leadership. As such, principal preparation programs should include an entire course dedicated to ethics in leadership, or at the very least be intentional in including ethical content as a major component of coursework. To maximize the likelihood of graduates from principal preparation programs to act ethically in regard to practices and polices related to social justice, it has been suggested that in addition to formal training in ethics, principals need ongoing formal (coursework and professional development) and informal (peer-based support groups) modes of ethics training (Dempster&Berry, 2003).
The question remains, though, as to why there is tendency for the positive impact. In the current study, there are several limitations that could possible be attributable. First, the sample for this study was purposeful and not random, so the representativeness of the findings should be interpreted with appropriate caution. Second, analyses were not conducted to control for possible confounding variables such as state, gender, age, or ethnicity. According to McCabe, Dukerich, and Dutton (1994), it might be attributable to the course content, needing more time between the class and actual practice to measure its impact, or some other factor. Finally, Cambron-McCabe&McCarthy (2005) suggested that the facilitation of ethical behavior, specifically as it related to social justice awareness, in professional preparation programs might be simply be attributable to faculty who model the kinds of organizations they intend their graduate students to create.
It is recommended that future research seek to conduct this study with a stronger sampling design and include possible confounding variables in the analysis. Also, future research should consider some of instructional practices within ethics courses to better understand best practices for supporting ethical behavior by practitioners after graduating from their programs.
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