Insights on the Teaching of Ethics to Accounting Graduates in Malaysia

Abstract

The rising cases of unethical scandal, especially in accounting, have been a hot topic for a long time. It calls for various professional organisations for a greater emphasis on ethics education. The topic of accounting ethics has been discussed in numerous articles and journals. In the business world, ethics deals with whether a decision made in specific business practice is acceptable or not. This paper examines the perception of ethical behaviour of accounting graduates, whether ethics can be taught, and the best approach to teaching ethics to accounting students. Interviews were conducted with two academicians and two practitioners and analysed using thematic analysis. The finding reveals that there is a slight improvement in the behaviour of accounting graduates. However, in the opinion of the participants of the study, ethical behaviour can be influenced by environmental factors. Participants of the study also believe that ethics education can be taught. However, they suggested that a standard course on ethics should be offered to all students. The participants believe that ethics could be embedded in accounting subjects according to their category. It is suggested that good ethics should be continuously nurtured as environmental factors do play a role in influencing one's good ethics; ethics can be taught, and that ethics should be taught through active learning approaches such as debate, discussion and sharing sessions, local case studies, videos, or inviting guest speakers from the industry.