Abstract

Recent developments in the business world have caused the academic community to address the coverage of ethics in the accounting curriculum. This study surveyed accounting faculty to: (1) examine perceptions about ethics coverage in the undergraduate accounting courses; (2) identify teaching methods used to include ethics in the undergraduate accounting courses, the perceived effectiveness of those methods and the amount of time spent on ethics coverage; and (3) to identify problems encountered in including ethics in accounting courses. The study found that although a large majority of the professors surveyed (77%) said they include ethics, 69% felt that there was a need for more ethics coverage. Also, the study revealed that while the lecture method was the most commonly used method, the written case was deemed the most effective method. The average time spent covering ethics was a little over 3 hours per course. The most significant problems encountered by faculty who include ethics in their undergraduate accounting courses was not enough time and lack of appropriate ethics materials.