Assessing Antecedents of Prospective Accountant Ethical Behaviour across Demographics: The Case of Accounting Students in Ghana

This study examined demographic differences of prospective accountants’ antecedent of ethical behaviour (AEB) (morality and religiosity). Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development guided the study. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design to ascertain how demographics affect future accountants’ AEB. Only final-year accounting education students at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) constituted the study’s population. A census method was used to include all final-year students in this field involving 120 final-year accounting education students from UCC and 53 from UEW. A structured questionnaire i.e., closed-ended questionnaire was used to gather comprehensive data on the variables under investigation. Descriptive statistics (frequency counts, percentages, means, and standard deviations), and inferential statistics (One-way ANOVA and independent sample t-tests) were used for data analysis using SPSS version 26. The study revealed that accounting students demonstrated a high level of AEB overall. Furthermore, the results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in AEB among accounting students based on age, gender, and institutional affiliation. The study concluded that there were high levels of ethical commitment among accounting students, with no significant differences observed based on gender, age, or institutional affiliation. The study recommended that accounting programmes should place a stronger emphasis on integrating practical and scenario-based learning opportunities into their ethical education curricula as this will help accounting students engage with real-world ethical dilemmas and enhance their ability to apply theoretical knowledge in professional contexts.