Ethics and curriculum design of accounting programmes in a developing country: a qualitative insight

Abstract

The paper explores curriculum design and drivers of ethics in universities and professional accounting bodies in Ghana. Data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews. The study revealed that ethics in the curricula of universities and professional bodies are integrated within and across subjects and within all levels of programmes. Also, ethics is integrated using a combination of stand-alone, embedded and narrative approaches. Factors such as faculty initiative, industry demand, international benchmarking and modernisation are some of the drivers of ethics in the universities and the professional accounting bodies. Accounting educators need to understand the nature and drivers of ethics in the design of accounting curricula in order to improve the ethical practices of accounting graduates. The study is among the few that adopts an in-depth qualitative approach in highlighting the nature of ethics curriculum design for universities and professional bodies.