Ethical Drift in Higher Education Leadership: Discretion, Silence, and Informal Authority in Institutional Governance

Ethical leadership in higher education is commonly examined through misconduct, compliance failures, or individual moral shortcomings. Yet many ethically significant outcomes emerge through routine administrative practices that gradually diverge from policy intent. This commentary introduces ethical drift as a framework for understanding how institutions may become ethically misaligned while remaining procedurally compliant. Drawing on scholarship in ethical leadership, governance, organizational sensemaking, and administrative discretion, the analysis examines how ethical drift develops through discretionary policy interpretation, informal authority, selective documentation, and organizational silence. Rather than locating ethical failure solely in individual actors, the commentary positions ethics as a structural feature of institutional governance shaped by routine decision making. The ethical drift model reframes leadership responsibility as collective, emphasizing how well-intentioned leaders operating under institutional constraints may unintentionally contribute to ethical misalignment. Implications are discussed for higher education leaders and governing boards, particularly regarding accountability, transparency, and governance oversight.