Business school professors’ perception of ethics in education in Europe

Abstract

This qualitative study aims to investigate business school professors’ perception of ethics in business education, and their possible role in achieving ethical awareness in these schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 59 professors from four business schools, each from a different European country. The results show that participants define ethics along four dimensions, and express two divergent forms of implementing it. These differ by the country in which the business school is located. The findings shed light on the issues of ethics and sustainability in business education, and the importance of preparing students to become responsible leaders. For that purpose, we develop recommendations to foster ethics and sustainability in education in business schools in order to develop more socially responsible citizens.