A Systematic Review of Ethical Integration of Generative AI in Higher Education

Abstract

The rapid expansion of generative AI (GenAI) in higher education offers transformative opportunities but raises complex ethical concerns that demand rigorous examination. The existing literature is dominated by Global North perspectives, with African contexts accounting for only 11.4% of studies and Ghana for only 2.8%, leaving significant gaps in understanding ethical GenAI integration in post-colonial, multilingual and resource-constrained environments. This review synthesises global and African evidence to examine the ethical considerations, stakeholder responses, institutional frameworks, and future research priorities for the responsible use of GenAI in higher education. Guided by the PRISMA framework, this review analysed 246 studies published between 2018 and 2025, using narrative synthesis, thematic analysis, and framework synthesis to integrate the empirical and theoretical contributions. Five ethical domains consistently emerged: academic integrity, privacy and data security, transparency and accountability, equity and access, and AI literacy. These concerns manifest differently across contexts, with African institutions highlighting issues such as Ubuntu-informed ethics, infrastructural constraints, digital sovereignty and epistemic justice. Institutional responses remain uneven, and Ghanaian institutions show limited systematic governance. This review highlights the need for contextualised ethical frameworks, curriculum redesign, authentic assessments, capacity building and adaptive governance to ensure equitable and responsible GenAI integration, particularly in African higher education.