From painting it black to educating the gray: A case study of how a University prepares its graduates for the ethical challenges of the accounting profession through the integration of ethics in their accounting curriculum

In recent years the accounting profession has been rocked with scandals such as Enron which destroyed one of the largest international CPA firms in the world. The credibility of the entire accounting profession has been questioned as a result of these scandals. Calls for reform have been made and addressed by both corporations and the accounting profession. Related research suggests that while universities are partially to blame for these ethical lapses, little has changed at the university level in regard to how ethics is taught.;It was found that while the integration of ethics into the curriculum was encouraged by the University and the College of Business, and that the professors themselves viewed the teaching of ethics to be important, the actual level of integration within the accounting curriculum was low in aggregate. Integration was measured by comparing data gathered from the professors and graduates to see if it met what I defined as the five goals of integration: recognition of moral issues; exploration and evaluation of those ethical issues; development of moral decision making skills; encouragement of ethical behavior; and, understanding of the nature of accounting and its impact on society at large.;The data suggested that not only did the methodology used to teach accounting impact the level at which integration occurred, but that how accounting was defined then impacted how ethics was effectively defined by the professors---fixed or interpretive. In addition, the application of a case analysis methodology based on the work of John Dewey resulted in a reframing of the issue from a low level of ethics integration to one of personal choice. This reframing pointed toward potential reasons these choices are made and toward ways in which the level of ethics integration could be increased.;Implications for future research include an extension of this study through detailed meetings with the accounting faculty using the case methodology applied herein, extending the research through a survey instrument to include additional universities, conducting research specific to the definition of ethics and how it is influenced by the way accounting is defined through the use of various teaching methodologies and extending the research from accounting to other business related majors.;The purpose of this study was to explore how one university, the University of Perpetual Hope (UPH), prepared its accounting graduates for the ethical challenges of the accounting profession through the integration of ethics in their accounting curriculum. To conduct this case study, all nine of the full time accounting faculty and ten graduates of the accounting program were interviewed. In addition, a review of syllabi, course descriptions, marketing materials and my own experiences as an adjunct in the accounting department at UPH were used to supplement and help make meaning of the data collected through the interviews.