The Relationship between Ethical Orientation and Professional Socialization of Accounting Students

Background: The issue of professional socialization is very important in accounting. Failure to transfer professional values to accounting students may harm both the profession and its students. Individuals must adapt to all the values and norms of their chosen profession. Studying different aspects of professional socialization and the factors that affect it can provide a basis for improving the profession. The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between ethical orientation and professional socialization of accounting student.                  Method: The present study is descriptive-correlational. The statistical population includes master's and doctoral students in accounting throughout the country. Accidental sampling method was used to select the statistical sample. Standard questionnaires were used to collect data. The extracted data from 284 questionnaires were analyzed using structural equations. Results: The results of the study confirm the significant relationship between ethical orientation and professional socialization. In other words, idealism is positively and significantly related to professional socialization, while the relationship between relativism and social socialization is negative and significant. Conclusion: Due to the fact that students get acquainted with this profession through higher education system and ethical orientation has a significant relationship with the process of their socialization, so more effective educational interventions at the university level are necessary to improve and promote students' awareness of ethical issues and to pay attention to professional socialization.