Assessing the influence of gender and professional qualification on the competence, integrity, and ethical standards of internal auditors in selected public tertiary institutions in Ghana

Internal auditors’ competence, integrity, and ethics have gained interest in public tertiary institutions due to the Auditor’s General Report of financial irregularities of some public tertiary institutions. This study therefore investigated the competence, integrity and ethical levels of internal auditors in selected public tertiary institutions in Ghana. McClelland’s Competency Theory guided the study. Using a cross-sectional survey design, a closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect data from 40 internal auditors across University of Cape Coast (UCC), University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), and Cape Coast Technical University (CCTU). Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (One-way ANOVA and independent sample t-tests) were used for data analysis using SPSS version 26. The results revealed that internal auditors demonstrated high levels of competence, integrity and ethics. Furthermore, the results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in internal auditors’ competence, integrity, and ethical levels based on gender and professional qualification. The study concluded that internal auditors exhibit high levels of competence, integrity, and ethical standards in the execution of their professional responsibilities irrespective of their gender and professional qualification. The study recommended that internal audit departments continue to uphold and reinforce high standards of competence, integrity, and ethics through regular professional development and ethics training programmes.