Socialization of business students in ethical issues: the role of individuals' attitude and institutional factors

Abstract

This study focuses on the socialization of business students on ethical issues. To this end, we explore personal and institutional factors that influence the acquisition of business ethics competences. Drawing on the case of the European higher education framework, we analyse data from questionnaires about the experience of 599 undergraduates studying Business Management at a European university. The results show that a favourable attitude of business students towards ethics competences has a positive effect on their acquisition of such competences. Moreover, the study reveals that favourable perceptions of the teachers' ethical leadership and the University's ethical climate are relevant institutional factors in the effective acquisition of business ethics competences. The findings also reveal that the University's ethical climate positively moderates the relationship between individuals' attitude towards business ethics competences and their acquisition of such competences. This research sheds light on the need to study the influence of informal socialization mechanisms in business ethics competences development, in particular, the "hidden curricula" acquired via students' perception of teachers' ethical leadership and university ethical values.