STUDENT ETHICAL AWARENESS AND BUSINESS PROGRAM MATRICULATION: EVIDENCE FROM THE U.S.

An ethics survey of business students was conducted over a five semester period in a variety of business courses at a regional state university in the Midwest. The business program has adopted an across the curriculum approach to ethical instruction, and has also mandated a one-semester ethics course for all business majors. The purpose of the study was to prove or disprove the hypothesis that students completing the courses required by the business curriculum show a measurable increase in ethical awareness. The results of the survey revealed no significant correlation between class level (i.e. sophomore, junior, senior) and increased ethical awareness, and the completion of the ethics course only increased ethical awareness for individual (non-business) situations. However, a positive correlation between ethical awareness and two other factors was revealed: Both females and students with higher GPA’s appear to be more ethically aware than the general population.