Shifting Values, Student Educational Preferences, and Ethics in the Business Curriculum

Robert A. Giacalone; Mark D. Promislo; Dan Goldberg; Elizabeth A. Giacalone

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Shifting Values, Student Educational Preferences, and Ethics in the Business Curriculum

Robert A. Giacalone

University of Denver, USA

Mark D. Promislo

Rider University, USA

Dan Goldberg

Temple University, USA

Elizabeth A. Giacalone

Villanova University, USA

Volume 11: 2014, pp. 41-68: ABSTRACT

In the past 40 years, a global shift has taken place towards a constellation of values known as “expansive values”, which de-emphasize pursuits of money, possessions, and status, and instead focus on quality of life and humanistic goals. This study investigated what students holding expansive values desired in business school course content and student quality of life, and how these preferences differed from students holding materialistic values. Results revealed a number of different factors that were associated only with expansive values, though on a few factors the two student values cohorts shared similar preferences or had inverse preferences. One clear implication of this study is that business schools need to consider offering more ethics classes in order to satisfy the growing number of students with expansive values.