Promoting integrity in the workplace: a priority for all academic health professionals

The performance-driven culture of universities challenges faculty to meet workplace expectations. In this paper, we draw on the literature to identify key aspects of, and requirements for, promoting integrity in the academic workplace. Integrity is a crucial personal characteristic that can exert a powerful influence in any setting. Any threat to integrity in the workplace can result in a toxic and corrupt environment that may be deleterious to faculty and students. Such an environment can act to prevent faculty from speaking up about ethical issues or workplace concerns, which can result in failure to identify areas for improvement, continuation of suboptimal practices, and problematic professional relationships. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to present an overview of the concept of integrity in the academic workforce and to discuss some of the issues and dimensions, in the hope of creating greater awareness. This is essential if health professional faculties are to recruit and retain staff and create optimal working environments conducive to facilitating high quality outcomes.