TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethical compliance and institutional policy support for artificial intelligence integration in African TVET Education
T2 - A structural equation modeling approach
AU - Ayanwale, Musa Adekunle
AU - Omeh, Christian Basil
AU - Oyeniran, Folasade Mardiyya
AU - Kanu, Catherine Chiugo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Ayanwale et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2025/12
Y1 - 2025/12
N2 - As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes educational landscapes, ensuring ethical alignment and institutional responsiveness is essential particularly in skill-intensive sectors such as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). In this study, we examined the predictive roles of Ethical Principles Guiding AI adoption (EPG), Compliance with AI Ethical Guidelines (CAEG), and Perceived AI Adoption Outcomes (PAAT), while testing the moderating effect of Institutional Policy Support (IPS). Grounded in Rest’s Four Component Model of ethical behavior, we adopted a cross-sectional, quantitative design and surveyed 400 TVET educators across Nigeria using a rigorously validated instrument. Our analysis through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that Ethical Principles Guiding AI adoption significantly influenced both Compliance with AI Ethical Guidelines and Perceived AI Adoption Outcomes. Moreover, CAEG partially mediated the relationship between EPG and PAAT, highlighting compliance as a vital conduit for ethical adoption. However, IPS did not significantly moderate the EPG–CAEG relationship, indicating that personal ethical orientation may remain influential even in the absence of institutional frameworks. Our model demonstrated strong explanatory and predictive validity, particularly in institutions without formal AI policies underscoring the compensatory role of ethical leadership. We contribute novel empirical insights to the emerging scholarship on AI ethics in education by integrating ethical compliance and policy dynamics into a unified framework contextualized within African TVET systems. Our findings emphasize the importance of empowering educators with ethical competencies and call for urgent institutional action in policy formulation, infrastructure investment, and professional development to support responsible AI integration in education.
AB - As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes educational landscapes, ensuring ethical alignment and institutional responsiveness is essential particularly in skill-intensive sectors such as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). In this study, we examined the predictive roles of Ethical Principles Guiding AI adoption (EPG), Compliance with AI Ethical Guidelines (CAEG), and Perceived AI Adoption Outcomes (PAAT), while testing the moderating effect of Institutional Policy Support (IPS). Grounded in Rest’s Four Component Model of ethical behavior, we adopted a cross-sectional, quantitative design and surveyed 400 TVET educators across Nigeria using a rigorously validated instrument. Our analysis through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that Ethical Principles Guiding AI adoption significantly influenced both Compliance with AI Ethical Guidelines and Perceived AI Adoption Outcomes. Moreover, CAEG partially mediated the relationship between EPG and PAAT, highlighting compliance as a vital conduit for ethical adoption. However, IPS did not significantly moderate the EPG–CAEG relationship, indicating that personal ethical orientation may remain influential even in the absence of institutional frameworks. Our model demonstrated strong explanatory and predictive validity, particularly in institutions without formal AI policies underscoring the compensatory role of ethical leadership. We contribute novel empirical insights to the emerging scholarship on AI ethics in education by integrating ethical compliance and policy dynamics into a unified framework contextualized within African TVET systems. Our findings emphasize the importance of empowering educators with ethical competencies and call for urgent institutional action in policy formulation, infrastructure investment, and professional development to support responsible AI integration in education.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105025378253
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0335747
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0335747
M3 - Article
C2 - 41417785
AN - SCOPUS:105025378253
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 20
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 12 December
M1 - e0335747
ER -