Abstract

Helping students to gain an understanding of accounting issues and to master technical skills are critical to their success in the accounting and business fields. At the same time, educators can assist students by helping them develop character and personal values such as compassion. Being compassionate has a positive impact on a person’s life as well as on others with whom he or she interacts, such as colleagues, customers, investors, people in the supply chain, and others. One of the most well-known stories about compassion was told by Jesus of Nazareth, in his parable of the Good Samaritan. The well-known story offers a practical example of what it means to love other people, notably by a person of one race toward a person of another race. Research shows that compassion contributes to higher life satisfaction, better job performance, and improved organizational success. This exploratory study examines the levels of compassion in accounting and business students, provides a gender analysis, and considers the importance of compassion to students pursuing careers in accounting and business. Findings show that there is a significant difference in levels of compassion between female and male students, and that compassion is important to student perceptions of their careers in accounting and business. Educators would do well to discuss compassion with their students, making them aware of its benefit to them personally and to the organizations in which they will work.