How Effective are Business Ethics/CSR Courses in Higher Education?

Concern is increasing worldwide for introducing dedicated courses on business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in higher education curricula. In this study, awareness of business ethics is investigated from a sample of 307 undergraduate and postgraduate management students at a Polish university. This investigation aims at assessing management students' awareness of business ethics issues, focusing on the potential differences in such perceptions depending on previous business ethics/CSR courses taken. Surprisingly, our results do not match prior findings in the extant literature. Notably, in our sample, having taken previous courses on business ethics/CSR does not play a relevant role in students' ethical awareness. These findings stimulate further questions (e.g., considering business ethics/CSR course design and methodology issues) and challenges for future research.