Examining the influence of demographic factors on ethical awareness : computer use and security

Abstract

Many higher educational institutions have become heavily dependent on computers and information systems for educational purposes. That exposes them to some ethical issues such as unauthorized access and use of computer systems, software piracy and information privacy. This study examines the influence of demographic factors on computer science students’ ethical awareness for computer-use and security, and outlines a framework to investigate demographic factors and ethical awareness. The results indicated that age and education level influence students’ ethical awareness for computer use and security. Other factors such as gender and duration of computer use were found to have no influence.