An examination of the role whistle-blowing education plays in the whistle-blowing process

•The relationship between whistle-blowing education and both whistle-blowing and retaliation in federal agencies are explored in this paper.•The results suggest that whistle-blowing education boosts whistle-blowing in general and is negatively associated with retaliation.•However, whistle-blowing education appears to enhance internal whistle-blowing and not external whistle-blowing.

Research suggests that whistle-blowing education plays an important role in the whistle-blowing process. Despite this, only one article was found in the literature that examined the relationship between whistle-blowing education and actual whistle-blowing, and it was conducted over three decades ago. Moreover, no study was found that studied whistle-blowing education and retaliation. Consequently, the relationship between whistle-blowing education and both whistle-blowing and retaliation in federal agencies are explored in this paper. The results suggest that whistle-blowing education boosts whistle-blowing in general and is negatively associated with retaliation. However, whistle-blowing education appears to enhance internal whistle-blowing and not external whistle-blowing. These findings have important implications which are discussed in the article.