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Article History

Received: 1 March 2026

Accepted: 4 August 2026

First Online: 24 August 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval for this study was obtained from Higher Degrees and Research Committee of East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development, which is located at curriculum building of College of Education and External Studies of Makerere University, in Kampala, Uganda. The study was conducted in full accordance with the foundational ethical principles articulated in the Declaration of Helsinki and The Belmont Report , which together establish internationally recognized standards for research involving human participants. Adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki is demonstrated through several key procedural elements. First, the study protocol received prospective approval from the Higher Degrees and Research Ethics Committee of the East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development, fulfilling the Declaration’s requirement for independent ethical review of research involving human subjects. Second, the research prioritized the well-being of participants over the sole pursuit of scientific knowledge, a core tenet of the Declaration. This was operationalized through rigorous informed consent procedures, whereby participants were fully informed about the study’s purpose, procedures, and their rights, as well as through robust confidentiality protections designed to safeguard their identities and personal data. Finally, by centering the lived experiences and narrative voices of faculty members, the study aligns with the Declaration’s emphasis on respecting the autonomy, dignity, and privacy of every individual who contributes data to research. Simultaneously, the study’s design and execution were grounded in the three core ethical principles articulated in The Belmont Report : respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. The principle of respect for persons was upheld by treating each faculty participant as an autonomous agent. This principle was operationalized through voluntary participation, comprehensive informed consent procedures, and the explicit assurance that participants could withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. Beneficence, defined as the obligation to maximize potential benefits while minimizing possible harms, guided the ethical framework of the research process. Although the study offered no direct personal benefit to participants, the risks associated with participation were minimal, and the potential societal benefit of generating knowledge to improve institutional governance in higher education was considered significant. The principle of justice, which requires that the benefits and burdens of research be distributed fairly, was addressed through a purposive sampling strategy that ensured diverse representation across faculty ranks, genders, and academic disciplines. This inclusive approach helped prevent any single group from bearing a disproportionate burden of participation while enabling a broader range of voices to contribute to knowledge that may benefit the academic community as a whole. Through this deliberate alignment with both the Helsinki principles and the Belmont ethical framework, the study ensured that the pursuit of scholarly knowledge was conducted in accordance with the highest ethical standards for research involving human participants.

Consent for publication: Not applicable because the study does not include any identifiable images or personal information.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.

Informed consent: Participants informed consent was sought for this study, before, during and after the research.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.