Characterizing the need for graduate ethics education

We report on some initial findings of an investigation into current practices in, and the need for, information/computer ethics curricula at the graduate level. We give some results and analysis from a survey of faculty and graduate students at four diverse U.S. institutions. Faculty and students agree that students will face professional ethical challenges after graduation, but assessment of students' preparedness for these challenges differs widely across the surveyed institutions. A clear majority of faculty and students expressed support for an elective graduate-level ethics course, and roughly half supported a required graduate-level ethics course.