International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to describe the results and implications of an ethics survey completed by students attending hospitality schools in Europe and the USA.

Designmethodology/approach – A questionnaire containing ten scenarios with five oriented to work issues and five to school issues was given to students attending hospitality programs in Europe and the USA. For each scenario, the students indicated whether the action in the scenario was ethical, not ethical or not a question of ethics (NQE). In addition, students were queried regarding influences on their ethical beliefs.

Findings – The ethical beliefs of both groups of hospitality students were most influenced by their parents and least influenced by college courses in religion. The majority of European and US hospitality students indicated the actions in the scenarios were not ethical while a moderate minority indicated NQE. Overall, US students appear to be slightly less tolerant than their European counterparts.

Research limitations/implications – The majority of European students are within their third and fourth years of college while the majority of US students are in their first and second years of study.

Originality/value – Both hospitality executives and students should find these research results most interesting as they reveal students' ethical views in a variety of settings oriented to work and school. Further, influences of the students' ethical beliefs are clearly reported from most to least important.