Unethical Practices in Tanzania Public Universities: Does Workload Matter?

Abstract

Globally, the operations of universities rely on workload distribution. The extent to which the workload shouldered by employees is excessive or insufficient has implications for ethical behaviour and well-being in academic careers. This paper examined the effect of workload on unethical practices in Tanzanian public universities. Karasek's Job Demand-Control Model served as the foundation for the study. The quantitative research approach was utilized, and questionnaires were used for data gathering. The study adopted a correlational research design. The study gathered data from three public universities intending to reach 245 respondents sampled through stratified sampling who were administered questionnaires, and only a total of 209 respondents completed it. The collected data were considered for analysis through descriptive and inferential statistics. Meanwhile, STATA MP version 17 was used for analysis to conduct the multivariate regression model. The finding revealed workload has a significant positive effect on unethical practices, indicating that both excessive and insufficient workload contribute to unethical behaviour among academic staff. The study concluded that although workload in higher learning institutions is a lifeblood of curriculum implementation, it is not fairly distributed and thus affects both individual and organizational operations. Therefore, the study recommends that the universities should play a crucial role in developing and implementing internal workload policies that link with academic integrity to foster high-quality services in university operations.