Present students with realistic ethical conundrums such as job-search dilemmas earlier in their education¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article recommends that educators "present[] them more realistic ethical conundrums (such as those faced during the job search) earlier in their education", so students can consider ethically consistent responses before facing them in real life. This responds to the finding that students rely on moral disengagement and struggle to apply ethics knowledge in their own contexts. It also aligns with the authors' agreement with prior work that explicitly preparing students to navigate decisions about where and for whom to work is worth taking more seriously in CS ethics courses.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Ethics instruction must be positioned so students can rehearse decisions before encountering them in real life; the article notes its impact is likely greatest when students have real alternatives to choose from

Constraints¶

• The article notes structural constraints shape what any individual intervention can achieve, and that ethics education is not to blame for apathy nor the only lever available

Target Learners¶

• post-secondary computer science students approaching the job market

Target Learning Goals¶

• applying ethical reasoning to real employment decisions
• recognizing flawed rationalization such as moral disengagement

Related Strategies¶

• Responsible Decision-Making Practice
• Define and Apply Ethical Responsibility
• Problem Scenario Analysis

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Mohamed Abdalla, Sahar Abdalla, Alicia Cappello, Kyrie Dowling, Danaé Metaxa, David G. Widder, Catherine Stinson. (2026). Cost-of-Ethics Crisis: Beliefs, Decisions, and Justifications in the Job Searches of Computer Science Students in Canada and the United States. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.09680