Exploring undergraduate students' ethical perceptions in Barbados

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine whether there were differences in students' ethical perceptions based on gender, academic major and religiosity.Design/methodology/approachA self‐administered survey was conducted of 132 students at a university in Barbados, to determine ethical perceptions on five moral constructs: justice, relativism, utilitarianism, deontology and egoism.FindingsThe study found that females displayed higher ethical values compared to males, non‐accounting students (majoring in management and economics) were more ethical than accounting students, and students who perceived themselves as being religious were more ethical than non‐religious students. Both female accounting and non‐accounting students, as well as religious and non‐religious females, held higher ethical perceptions than their male counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was small, thus limiting the generalisability of the results to the wider student population.Practical implicationsThe results should be useful for educational institutions to implement more ethical courses into the curriculum.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates that ethical perceptions are important among undergraduate students, and that there needs to be remedies to improve the low ethical perceptions among accounting students. The paper also contributes to the sparse literature on ethics in the Caribbean.

Menguak Persepsi Etika Mahasiswa Akuntansi

“…Penelitian tentang etika yang dihubungkan dengan beberapa aspek di Barbados (Alleyne dan Persaud, 2012), dilakukan untuk menguji perbedaan persepsi mengenai etika berdasar gender, disiplin akademis, dan tingkat religiusitas. Dari uji gender memberikan hasil bahwa perempuan lebih menjunjung etika daripada lakilaki.…”

“…Lima pilar konstruksi moral yang digunakan dalam melihat persepsi mengenai etika yaitu: (1) keadilan (justice), mengacu pada keseimbangan dan keadilan serta didasarkan pada keyakinan bahwa ada unsur keadilan untuk semua, layak, dan secara moral benar (Alleyne dan Persaud, 2012). (2) relativisme, hal ini mengacu pada aturan tertentu untuk kultur tertentu (Landry et al, 2004), dan disebutkan pula bahwa tindakan etis didasarkan apakah ditoleransi atau tidak oleh keluarga, budaya, atau tradisi (Alleyne dan Persaud, 2012). (3) egoisme, menganggap bahwa masing-masing individu mencoba untuk memaksimalkan kepentingan diri sendiri atau perilaku egois yang ditunjukkan dan dianggap oleh individu tersebut sebagai tindakan yang pantas atau benar (Landry et al, 2004).…”

“…Penelitian tersebut memberikan kesimpulan bahwa perempuan lebih beretika daripada laki-laki (Landry et al, 2004;Devonish et al, 2009;Sidani et al, 2009;Alleyne et al, 2010). Penelitian berikutnya yang memperkuat kesimpulan tersebut dilakukan terhadap mahasiswa akuntansi, memberikan hasil bahwa perempuan menunjukkan nilai etika yang lebih tinggi dari pada mahasiswa laki-laki (Alleyne dan Persaud, 2012). Berangkat dari penelitian dan teori ini dapat dinyatakan hipotesis sebagai berikut: H1: Ada perbedaan persepsi etika antara mahasiswa laki-laki dan perempuan.…”

Religiosity And Moral Competence: A Study Of Malaysia's Accounting Students

“…The majority of the papers reviewed found support for the expected positive relationship between student religiosity and moral competence; only two of the papers reviewed failed to find support for the expected positive relationships. The studies reviewed are presented in Table 1 Conroy & Emerson, 2004;Shah, 2004;Albaum & Peterson, 2006;Keller et al, 2007;Kurpis et al, 2007;Muhamad, 2009;Alleyne & Persaud, 2012;Stapleton, 2013;Szekely et al, 20159 Burks & Sellani, 2008Lyons (2013) 2 Conroy & Emerson (2004) surveyed students from various fields of study enrolled at two American universities; one public university and one private religious university. Frequency of church attendance was used as a proxy for the students' religiosity, while moral competence was measured using an instrument with 25 ethical scenarios.…”

“…Like Albaum and Peterson (2006), students' religiosity was determined by asking them how important religion was in their lives, whilst their moral competencies were measured using ethical scenarios. Alleyne and Persaud (2012) also focused on accounting students, but unlike Keller et al (2007), these students were enrolled in a university in Barbados. The same proxy utilized by Albaum & Peterson (2006), Keller et al (2007) and Kurpis et al (2007) for student religiosity was also utilized in this study; student's moral competencies was measured using ethical scenarios adopted from Landry et al (2004).…”