A Framework for Teaching Soft Skills and Ethics in an Overcrowded Accounting Curriculum

Authors

  • Trevor England Sam Houston State University
  • Leslie Blix Sam Houston State University
  • Linda Carrington Sam Houston State University
  • Katie Harris Sam Houston State University

Abstract

This paper introduces an innovative framework to reduce demand on instructional time by simultaneously developing students’ soft skills and ethical reasoning skills. Traditional ethics education often fails to address how to move from making the correct ethical judgement to actually acting on it (a judgement-action gap), because ethical action requires self-efficacy (the belief a difference can be made) and moral courage (the courage to act). However, after enhancing soft skills and ethical reasoning skills, our framework goes further by requiring students to take ethical action and communicate their concerns to a superior. Results from utilizing our framework show significant increases in students’ ethical reasoning, self-efficacy, and confidence (an important component of moral courage) that can reduce the likelihood of a judgement-action gap. While our framework uses scenarios developed by the authors, it can also be easily integrated into existing ethics cases/exercises that require students to make an ethical judgement. Given accounting educators’ valid concerns about using scarce instructional time for soft skills education, our framework can be fully implemented through online instruction and collaboration—requiring little, if any, classroom time. Additionally, we provide significant instructor resources to reduce implementation and grading costs.

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Published

2022-12-30

How to Cite

A Framework for Teaching Soft Skills and Ethics in an Overcrowded Accounting Curriculum. (2022). The Accounting Educators’ Journal, 32. https://www.aejournal.com/ojs/index.php/aej/article/view/878