| This research study examines the impact of formal education on ethical maturity levels of African-American business professionals. The sample includes African-American business professionals, who potentially will be faced with ethical dilemmas in their work as business workers, managers, and leaders. This dissertation, therefore, will examine the moral decision-making process and the impact of formal education, age, and gender on African-American business professionals using Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of Cognitive Moral Development (CMD). Kohlberg's levels of CMD are measured in this study by the Defining Issues Test (DIT). The DIT is the most widely used objective and reliable psychometric instrument in the field of moral psychology. This study examined the differences between formal education, age, gender, ethical decision-making, and moral maturity levels of African-American business professionals. The outcome of the study indicates that there is no difference between ethical maturity level and age, gender, and formal ethics training of African-American business professionals. However, the analysis found support for a difference between ethical maturity level and formal education of African-American business professionals. This study contributes to the existing literature of moral development by reemphasizing that formal education is a reasonable facilitator of ethical maturity in African-American business professionals and is necessary in their development as business workers, managers, and leaders, who potentially will face ethical dilemmas in the work environment. |
