Moral compass framework (MCF) for resolution of wicked problems in doctoral education

Abstract

Throughout the PhD journey, candidates face numerous decisions that determine the success and the integrity of their doctoral experience and outcomes. What steers such decision-making is a vital question. This chapter presents a robust ethical structure, the moral compass framework (MCF) for professional integrity, to guide decision-making in doctoral education systems (and beyond). The research on doctoral work, from which the MCF emerged, is elaborated, and key ethical issues are noted. The MCF applies to both individual and collective decision-making by candidates, supervisors, academic managers and policy makers, when faced with ‘wicked’ problems, that is, situations where complex dilemmas arise for which there is no one simple solution but where a principle-based resolution is sought. The MCF provides principled considerations, processes and strategies for use when facing the complex dilemmas that such uncertainty brings. Resolution demands reflection on multiple perspectives at various levels. Such reflection occurs through the moral compass lens of the individual and the collective morality arising within the multi-level system of the PhD. The significance of consistent, principled decision-making in the face of uncertainty is argued, both in terms of integrity (of the individual, the university and the overall system) and of the development of doctoral graduates who have the capability to handle the unknown future successfully and ethically. While this chapter focusses on doctoral education, the MCF is also applicable to higher education more generally, as well as wider contexts in which integrity-based complex decision-making is required.