ASPECTS OF ETHICAL MANAGEMENT IN TODAY'S EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The present paper is a theoretical one. Firstly, this paper attempts to reveal to what extent the 21st century universities – with all the characteristics of this period - are concerned about ethical problems. And if universities are still concerned about this issue, this paper aims to point out to what extent universities are able to create their own values and to transmit them to the others within the present context in which there is an unprecedented interdependence of social domains, a fact which generates negative effects on their autonomy. There are ethical problems in all universities, domains and societies. The question is how these problems are tackled and if there is a reaction to them or not. We are particularly interested in the young people's attitude. Do young people react to these problems or do they remain indifferent to the ethical problems existing in the academic world? How do young people relate to the ethical problems in a society that underwent a long period of transition, and of anomie, too? Does ethics remain, like politics, a second hand concern for most of young people in our society? The present paper also deals with important aspects of ethical management in universities. If we consider some European - including Romanian - research work on this issue, we can notice that they simultaneously present the educational managers' opinions and the students' opinions on the characteristics of ethical management in present universities.

Keywords

• ethics
• values
• autonomy
• ethical management
• student