Reframing AI Literacy in Higher Education: Designing Curricula for Ethically Competent Managers

Abstract

As Artificial Intelligence increasingly shapes organizational decision-making, managers must move beyond functional literacy toward critical engagement with its ethical, social, and governance implications. Despite growing AI ethics scholarship, a gap persists in how these competencies can be systematically developed within management education. This study addresses this gap by proposing the Ethical AI Literacy Framework for Management Education, a pedagogical architecture grounded in qualitative synthesis. Methodologically, the article conducts a systematic literature review of 581 peer-reviewed studies to map the multidisciplinary landscape of AI ethics in professional training. To overcome thematic fragmentation, an in-depth thematic analysis of 22 core studies was undertaken. Through abductive coding, these contributions were synthesized to identify recurrent pedagogical logics and competence clusters informing the framework’s construction. The resulting framework articulates three developmental blocks: conceptual foundations of AI systems; ethical reasoning and reflection; and applied managerial context—complemented by a cross-cutting dimension dedicated to curricular integration and evaluation. By making the pedagogical architecture of ethical AI literacy explicit, the article offers a structured reference for curriculum design, accreditation processes, and lifelong managerial learning, providing actionable guidance for business schools and universities.