Should UK Accounting Students Be Taught Ethics - Literature review Example

The paper “Should UK Accounting Students Be Taught Ethics?” is a pathetic example of a finance & accounting literature review. Ethics is often presented to students as a moral philosophy that leads to the development of beliefs that lead one to live a good life. It is generally assumed that ethics is intrinsic and is expressed as part of the duty humans owe to each other. Many times educators and accounting students face the predicament of deciding whether they should teach something that should come naturally to an individual.

Many scholars have supported the perceived safe option of avoiding ethical discussion on the basis that ethics is a private matter. Arguably, ethics is a matter of public interest and should be one of the top learning goals for accounting students in the UK. As defined in Martell (2007), ethical education is the study of what is good and allows people to take the right action. Ethical education aims to make students rational decision-makers and allows them to develop moral principles that govern their choices and decisions.

Ethics should be taught in accounting education to develop critical thinking and allow accounting professionals to make the right decisions when faced with ethical dilemmas. Unfortunately, the accounting profession has been adversely mentioned in many ethical scandals and financial scams that have seen the collapse of many leading companies.Historically, western and capitalist societies have promoted the values of individualism, personal gain, and ambition (Mann 2005). Education and the accounting profession have been intertwined with this preeminence of self-interest in society.

Arguably, educational institutions should prepare accountants to serve the public and fulfill their ethical obligation to society. However, education in western society focuses on knowledge and skill acquisition and very little emphasis is given to the acquisition of ethical competence. Today, ethics should be taught throughout an accountant’s undergraduate studies to tackle the worsening problem of unethical practice in the profession. Accounting scandals have shown the importance of arming accountants with ethical skills and knowledge.