2012 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

Assessing the State of Public Relations Ethics Education
Deborah Silverman, Ph.D.
Buffalo State College
silverda@buffalostate.edu
Karla K. Gower, Ph.D.
The University of Alabama
gower@apr.ua.edu
Elmie Nekmat
The University of Alabama
mbnekmat@crimson.ua.edu
Abstract
Given the importance of ethics in public relations, this study explored the state of ethics
education in the PR curricula through an online survey of 104 educators and interviews with 15
professors. Findings reveal that, consistent with previous research, educators perceive ethics
instruction to be very important for PR students. At the same time, however, the majority of
participants indicated that their programs do not require an ethics course of, nor recommend one
as an elective for, their majors. The preferred method of ethics instruction delivery is embedding
it into each course in the public relations curricula, with 80% of the participants indicating that
students are exposed to ethics in the introductory class and campaigns. Less than one-half said
students received ethical training in the management class.
The most helpful methods for teaching ethics were case studies, simulations, and small
group discussions. The most helpful materials were current events, the PRSA Ethics Code, and
PRSA online ethics resources. Class discussions, reflexive/position papers, and student
presentations were the most effective forms of assessment, although in the interviews several
educators noted how difficult it was to assess ethical knowledge.
Despite the problems with assessment, educators reported a number of rewarding
outcomes of teaching ethics, most notably, an ―aha‖ moment from their students and feedback
from alumni on their own ethics ―war stories.‖ Overall, these educators believe that PR educators
are doing a good job, but that ethics must be learned on the job. They made several
recommendations for how the profession could improve ethical behavior.
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