Research Ethics in Sub-Saharan Africa: Graduate Business Students’ Attitudes and Beliefs

In the present article, we explore beliefs and attitudes towards research ethics among graduate students in the two south-central African countries of Zambia and Malawi. The participants were 11 mid-career professionals studying graduate business programs delivered in-country, in partnership with a British university. We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews in order to ascertain these graduate students’ views regarding ethics and the influences that contribute to their ethical perspective, in particular the relationship between their beliefs about ethics and the processes and procedures taught in their ethics course. Participants indicated several factors that contributed to their beliefs and attitudes of research ethics, including close social groups, traditional historical ethics re-enforced through storytelling, their religion, their urban versus rural location, and their beliefs about professionalism. We argue encompassing these factors in the ethical frameworks of Western universities will give a more substantial foundation for the research undertaken in the region.