By Madeline Malpass, BA Business, 2023
The Ethical Lens Inventory (ELI) is a personal evaluation tool used to help individuals assess their own values, and how people prioritize those values when making ethical decisions. Within the last month, members of the Spartan Global Development Fund were lucky enough to have the opportunity to take this test and to evaluate our individual ethical lens thanks to a generous donation from Professor Baird, the creator and CEO of the Ethics Game.
The dictionary definition of the word ethical states is “relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with these.” Individuals make decisions based on their values, beliefs and morals, ethical or not. As students, it’s valuable to understand and discuss where our personal values lay.
The ELI is a series of questions that the test taker must take before they are given a result on the ethical grid. The 4 lenses in question are responsibilities, results, relationships and reputation along with the core values of rationality, autonomy, equality, and sensibility. The results identify how a student prioritizes core values when making ethical decisions.
Professor Stenzel, Spartan Global’s faculty advisor, helped lead a discussion with members of SGDF to compare how each of the student’s ethical lens related to one another. It found that a large number of members leaned towards the community and responsibility spectrum on the grid. Every member's test result was different, whether vastly or slightly, and it demonstrated how differing values help others to work together and achieve more.
After taking the Ethical Lens, members are now educated on how their values are prioritized and are able to understand how other they may not always see eye to eye with one another, but are able to put those differences aside in prioritizing different values in order to reach their final goals.