In Search of Ethics and Social Responsibility: evaluating the curriculum of the academic discipline of Human Resources Development Training

This article aims to examine and evaluate the curriculum of the academic discipline of Human Resource Training and Development from the perspective of ethics and social responsibility. The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to examine the place of ethics and social responsibility in the curriculum of Human Resource Training and Development and the importance of training courses on ethics and social responsibility in this discipline; and second, to highlight the potential of this academic discipline to minimize ethical misconduct in organizations.

This study is a qualitative study based on document analysis and interviews. In this article, three documents/groups were selected to gather information: 1) the curriculum of the academic discipline of Human Resources Training and Development; 2) master's students majoring in Human Resources Training and Development; and 3) Human Resources Development professionals working in organizations.

The results of the study show that ethics and social responsibility are marginal and largely neglected in Human Resources Training and Development curriculum. In other words, this discipline focuses on individual and organizational development. Although many scholars emphasize the role of human resource development in the "development of individuals, organizations, society, the nation, and all mankind" and in the "improvement of the organization and social development," these issues are not addressed in the curriculum of the discipline of Human Resources Training and Development in Iran. The analysis of the information we obtained from the students of Human Resources Training and Development revealed that they did not deal with issues such as ethics and social responsibility of organizations through extracurricular activities and additional training in classrooms and were not aware of these issues. The study of the third sample revealed that HRD professionals in the organizations were always concerned with ethical and social issues. However, they were not learning how to deal with these issues. Many academic human resource development programs do not have a clear strategy for training professionals to deal with ethical dilemmas and create an ethical workplace.