A Study of the Effect of Age, Gender, & GPA on the Ethical Behavior of Accounting Students

Continuing failures in the accounting profession have demonstrated a paucity of ethics at all levels. This has renewed discussions among accounting educators regarding their role in preparing accounting students to face ethical dilemmas in the accounting profession. This study first measured accounting students’ stated behavior by recording their responses to different scenarios on a Business Ethics Quiz. In a follow up experiment, these students’ grades are temporarily changed and an opportunity given to them to report the grading error. The purpose of this study is to observe whether their actual conduct (Actual Behavior) is consistent with their Stated Behavior. The results of this research indicate that, when faced with an ethical dilemma, although accounting students may state they will make ethical choices, their “Stated Behavior” had no correlation to their “Actual Behavior.” Additional findings indicate that accounting students’ ethical choices are also not influenced by their age, gender, or GPA.