A relação de gênero, idade e o período cursado pelos estudantes de contabilidade versus seu comportamento ético

Abstract

Factors such as gender, age, religiosity and professional experience can influence Accounting students perception of professional ethics. The objective of this work is to verify the relationship between gender, age and period studied by undergraduate Accounting students versus their ethical behavior. The research methodology consisted of applying a questionnaire with a 7- point Likert scale, in which students chose how acceptable the presented dilemmas were. Two techniques were used for data analysis; descriptive statistics for sample characterization and the T test for statistical analysis. The results were obtained through the analysis of 158 valid questionnaires. Regarding gender, the results revealed that female students showed less agreement regarding ethical issues. For the age variable, three scenarios were tested, and the results indicated that students over 25 years of age showed less agreement in relation to the ethical dilemmas presented. As for the period studied variable, the results were controversial, as both groups (less than half and more than half of the course) showed greater acceptance in relation to ethical dilemmas. The study's findings offer important contributions to filling theoretical gaps on the ethical behavior of accounting students. The limitations of the study include the sample size, which was small in relation to the total population of accounting students’, and the application of the questionnaire in only one teaching institution, which may limit the generalization of the results. It is suggested that future researches expand the sample to include more universities, consider the segregation of the period variable to obtain more results and comparisons, and use practical situations in the classroom to verify the actual ethical behavior of students in the face of ethical dilemmas.