The role of organisational ethical climate in shaping students’ class identification and their educational outcomes

The present study extends the concept of Organisational Ethical Climate (OEC) to the school context, addressing a gap in the literature that has predominantly investigated this construct in workplace settings. We investigated how shared ethical norms within school shape students’ class identification and, in turn, key educational outcomes such as wellbeing, academic performance, and dropout intentions. Specifically, we investigated how the OEC (of friendship or self-interest) was associated with positive bonds between classmates, i.e., class identification, and how it could be associated directly and indirectly with school dropout intentions, students’ well-being, and academic performance. To investigate this, we proposed a multilevel 2-2-1 structural equation model exploring both individual-level and class-level perceptions on 730 (M age = 16.7, SD = 1.36; 55.5% boys, 43% girls, and 1.5% nonbinary) high school students and 47 classes. Results revealed that only the friendship climate was significantly related to stronger class identification, which in turn shapes its association with the outcomes. In conclusion, our study underscored the pivotal role of the OEC within schools in shaping various educational outcomes. Incorporating this dimension into the school climate assessment can enhance our understanding of how informal moral norms could shape school dynamics.