Dubai Women's College hosts Ethics Debating Day

The sessions tackled issues related to their Year 2 course on Ethics and were attended by teams from Dubai Women's College and Dubai Men's College.

Ammar Shams, Head of Human Resources for HSBC in the United Arab Emirates, presented shields and trophies to the winning teams from each college and also addressed students on Ethics in the UAE.

The two-day event witnessed high competition between 49 teams of morning and evening students competed in the debates over 2 days and an evening with the eventual Dubai Women's College winning team coming from Section 5 - team members Najlaa Najmi, Maitha Al Rahoomi and Hanan Karam. The winning team from Dubai Men's College comprised Khalifa Rashed, Ahmed Abbas and Ahmed Ismail.

Adjudicators for the debate teams were Business and English teachers from both campuses. Ethical issues covered in the debates ranged from discrimination to harassment to favouritism and were identified as issues that happen in the real work place. Students identified these issues through case studies and argued their side (of the issue) using available statistics and real-life experiences to strengthen their arguments.

In his address to the students afterwards, Mr Shams stressed the need to understand what is ethical in the ever-changing environment of the UAE and to then identify a standard or benchmark. The challenge, according to Shams, is defining what the standards ought to be.

He pointed out that since 99% of the population here is Muslim, the country has a valuable base, through the principles of Islam, on which to build ethical standards.

He stressed the importance of ethical behaviour beginning in the home and then spreading to the public forum, and challenged the audience to start living by the standards themselves before asking others to do so. How we behave defines people's perception of a country and its culture.

Dr. Monica Gallant, Chair of the Business Department at Dubai Women's College stated, "This was an excellent collaboration with Dubai Men's College where the students had the opportunity to test their debating skills and address ethical issues relevant to the local workplace."