Don E. Giacomino

An examination of personal values: Differences between accounting students and managers and differences between genders

In this study we investigate whether work experience and genderdifferences impact personal values. Personal values areimportant to study because they provide the foundational beliefsthat ultimately shape behavior. Differences in personal valuescould have several important implications for public accountingincluding recruiting, training, behavior, and retention. Wefound more significant differences between genders than relatedto work experience, however, we did find some interestinginteractions between gender and experience. Within bothexperience level groups, the dominant value type among males wasthat of an Independent Maximizer (an individual value typeexemplified by Ivan Boesky and Donald Trump, who utilizescompetence to attain personal goals). The most dominant typeamong females was Virtuous Advocate (an individual value type,exemplified by Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, who utilizesmoral means to obtain social goals). Experience had very littleeffect on males, but major differences in value types were foundbetween the undergraduate females and the female businessmanagers, with a shift (student to manager) toward servingothers but using competence rather than moral means to reachthese ends. The implications of these results are discussed.