MEASURING PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION ETHICS PRINCIPLES ACROSS UNIVERSITY COURSES: A MODEL AND PILOT STUDY

This paper explores the question: How might accounting and business professional associations have some assurance that their professional ethics are presented within the coursework of educational institutions? A case is made that measurement of student perception of values within their courses may be key. The core concept is to link these student perceptions to the ethical standards of germane professional associations. A model was developed, the Multi-Stakeholder Values Measurement (MSVM) Model, which enabled a map linking student perceptions to the ethical standards of a professional association. A pilot study was performed utilizing previously-validated student values perception data from undergraduate accounting courses, a part of the Gunn-Lorton Attitudinal Surveys (GLAS) project at the University of San Francisco (USF), and the published ethical standards of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA). Multiple regression and other statistical techniques were used to validate the model. Statistically significant findings enabled insights into student perceptions based on gender and major within the pilot study. Accounting majors as a whole generally scored higher than non-accounting majors, and perceived the principles of Integrity and Confidentiality to a statistically significant degree. In terms of gender differences, the results yielded a previously expected insight in that females scored higher than males, and in some instances, to a statistically significant degree (Thoma, 1986, Bailey, 2010). Within the accounting majors, females scored higher than males, and to a statistically significant degree for the principle of Conflict of Interest. Taking the group as a whole, all females scored higher than males for all principles, but no statistically significant differences were found. Considering just females, the female accounting majors scored higher than the female nonaccounting majors, with statistical significance found for the principles of Integrity (p>.01), Conflict of Interest (p>.05) and Confidentiality (p>.05). A discussion of considerations for future development is presented.