This study extends prior resecirch on the average level of moral development in public accounting by examining five large accounting firms and three staff levels. The research is important because it highlights the need to include auditors from several firms in research designs, provides evidence of differences in moral development among public accounting firms, and profiles the professions' average level of moral development for three levels. The data are from 494 managers and seniors (204 females and 290 males) from five Big Six firms. Using the Defining Issues Test (Rest 1979a) to measure moral development, several results were noted. First, the results indicate a difference in the average level of moral development among firms, suggesting that use of subjects from only one firm inhibits the generalizability of findings regarding moral development. Second, female managers are at a significantly higher average level of moral development than male managers. In fact, the average scores for male managers fell between those expected for senior high school and college students. The data suggest that a greater percentage of high-moral-development males and low-moral-development females are leaving public accounting than their respective opposites. These results indicate that the profession has retained, through advancement, males who are potentially less sensitive to the ethical implications of various issues. The analysis also indicates that Kohlberg's (1969) theory of moral development is not biased towards the thought processes of males because female auditors did not score lower on the Defining Issues Test.i CondenseLa presente 6tude s'inscrit dans le prolongement des travaux realis6s jusqu'a maintenant sur le niveau moyen de d^veloppement du sens moral en expertise comptable. Elle porte sur cinq grands cabinets d'expertise comptable et trois echelons hi6rarchiques dif-f6rents. Les hypotheses de recherche formul6es par les auteurs visent & determiner si le sexe, l'echelon hi6rarchique et le cabinet peuvent expliquer les variations dans le niveau moyen de developpement du sens moral. L'importance de la pr6sente recherche tient aux caract6ristiques suivantes : elle met en relief la n6cessit6 d'integrer aux plans de recherche des verificateurs de plusieurs cabinets, elle fait 6tat de l'existence de variations dans le niveau de developpement du sens moral des cabinets d'expertise comptable, et elle trace le profil du niveau moyen de developpement du sens moral au sein de la profession, pour trois 6chelons hierarchiques.

This study examines a sample of 341 corporations that were ranked in the Fortune 500 in all seven years from 2006 through 2012. We compiled data from multiple corporate recognition lists including the following: the Most Admired Companies, the Most Ethical Companies, the Best Companies to Work for, and the Best Corporate Citizens. Our findings indicate that the higher the percentage of women on a company's board of directors, the more likely the company is to appear on these lists. We also found that the average percentage of women directors for the listed companies was significantly higher than the average percentage of women directors for the companies that did not appear on any of these lists over the period from of the lists had a higher average representation of women (18.1% versus 14%) on their boards (t = 5.02, p < 0.0001, two-tailed test). Our results do not change if we compare overall percentages. Of the 15 385 directors for the 184 firms that appeared on one or more of the lists, there were 2786 female directors (18.1%) for the seven-year period. This compares to a female representation of 14.3% (1711/12 007) for the 157 corporations that did not appear any of the lists. The difference in the gross percentages (18.1% versus 14.3%) is significant (t = 5.37, p > 0.0001). Women on Boards and Social Responsibility

This study examines the influence of women in business using a sample of firms on Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and is an extension of Bernardi et al.'s work. We use the data from Bernardi et al. to determine whether a higher representation of women on a board signals an increased commitment of a firm to a quality environment and employment characteristics necessary to establish the firm on Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. Our findings include a significant increase in the number of female directors on Fortune 500 companies between 1977 and 2001. The initial analysis of the 27 firms appearing on both Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and the Fortune 500 in 2001 indicates a positive correlation between the number of female directors and a company's appearance on the “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.

This paper examines the associations among social desirability response bias, cultural constructs and gender. The study includes the responses of 1537 students from 12 countries including Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Nepal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. The results of the analysis indicate that, on average, social desirability response bias decreases (increases) as a country’s Individualism (Uncertainty Avoidance) increases. The analysis also indicates that women scored significantly higher on Paulhus’ Image Management Subscale on an overall basis and for seven of the 12 country comparisons. This research serves as a caution when considering the research findings of prior international survey-based ethics research that do not include a direct measure of social desirability response bias. For example, the finding that women score higher on Paulhus’ measure of social desirability response bias calls into question prior research that does not control for social desirability response bias indicating women are more ethically sensitive than men. Copyright Springer 2006Hofstede’s cultural constructs, Social desirability response Bias,