Abstract

TROMBINI-FRICK, Loriane et al. University Ethical Climate Scale (UECS): Psychometric properties. Rev. Port. de Educação [online]. 2023, vol.36, n.2, e23044.  Epub Dec 18, 2023. ISSN 0871-9187.  https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.31246.

Understanding the University Ethical Climate is fundamental for the promotion of institutional policies and practices that aim at the ethical formation of the social actors inserted in this space. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a new instrument to assess the University Ethical Climate, for the Brazilian context, and to analyze its validity evidences based on internal structure, internal consistency and criterion validity. The sample consisted of 3.484 university students, with an average age of 22.8 years (SD = 6.92). The scale is a self-report instrument with 28 items. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, finding a scale with eight first-order factors: safety, institutional embracing of diversity, institutional academic engagement, victimization indicators, well-being, anxiety and depression indicators, institutional coping with abuse or harassment, perceived social and institutional support, which together explain about 71.3% of the variance, and a second-order factor: university ethical climate. The correlations showed convergent validity between the positive factors of the scale, as safety, respect, and non-discrimination; and divergent validity between the negative factors of the scale, such as indicators of victimization, of anxiety and of depression, and the factors of safety, respect, and non-discrimination. Furthermore, the predictive validity proposed in the regression model showed that six of the eight components were predictors of respect and non-discrimination. The results point to the scale as a reliable, practical, and original alternative for evaluations of University Ethical Climate. Moreover, it can be an analysis tool to guide institutional policies and practices that promote ethical coexistence.

Keywords : Campus climate; Coexistence; Values; Policies; University..

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