What Do Students Think of Business Ethics? Three Decades of Research

Introduction In the 1980s, my colleagues and I began assessing national student attitudes toward business ethics (the moral right and wrong arising in the context of business practice). Clearly such attitudes would influence the ethical behaviors of future business leaders. Although the subject of “business ethics” had been addressed before then, our research represented the first national, empirical study focusing on students. We felt it important to employ such a focus, in that the next generation of business workers, executives, and policy makers alike were being shaped in the nation’s colleges and universities. And, obviously, understanding such a phenomenon represented the first step in potentially influencing future ethical marketplace conduct.