Ethical Reasoning at Work: A Cross-Country Comparison of Gender and Age Differences

Karin Lasthuizen () and Kamal Badar
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Karin Lasthuizen: Wellington School of Business and Government, Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
Kamal Badar: Wellington School of Business and Government, Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand

Administrative Sciences, 2023, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: This paper uses the IBE Ethics at Work 2018 survey to explore employees’ ethical reasoning and examine gender and age differences across 12 countries. Debates about gender and ethics have been intense since Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, with feminist critiques from Gilligan and others advocating the different voice of women, while the recent arrival of Millennials in the workplace has raised new questions about age/generational differences and ethics. The findings in this study suggest that women and older workers have stronger ethical judgments in the workplace than men and younger workers. These gender and age differences, both among employees and managers, are consistent across countries. This study shows that individual characteristics are important for employees’ ethical reasoning, which affects their ability to make ethical decisions and act ethically. Business ethics research should therefore take greater account of differences between (groups of) employees and their learning needs when examining the effectiveness of ethics policies and instruments, while organizations can improve employee ethical reasoning by adopting diversity-based training programs and ethical leadership.

Keywords: organizational ethics; ethical reasoning; gender; age; global employee survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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