Cheating, Plagiarism and Other Fraudulent Academic Practices: a Descriptive Study of Business Undergraduate and Graduate Students’ Behavior
Keywords:
ensino superior, cola, práticas acadêmicas desonestas, administração, éticaAbstract
Fraudulent activities in the corporate world have been a growing societal concern and may be associated with failures in the educational system. The objective of this study is to analyze the behavior of Business students when it comes to dishonest academic practices such as cheating and plagiarism; the theoretical basis for the development of this research is the work of Chapman et al. (2004). In terms of theoretical scope, this study discusses ethics, competitiveness and the Brazilian jeitinho, as well as the use of fraudulent academic practices in Brazil and worldwide. A survey was implemented and a questionnaire was answered by 164 graduate students and 179 undergraduates. The questionnaire asked about views on several situations involving academic fraud, including a question whether students, as well as their friends and acquaintances, had participated personally in any of these practices. The questionnaire also explored respondents’ behavioral intentions in the face of four different fraudulent academic scenarios, in the light of their relationships with others, whether friends or otherwise. In addition, respondents indicated their level of agreement with beliefs related to dishonest academic activities. In the analysis, univariate and bivariate statistical techniques, such as the t test and correlations, were used. The results show that over 70% of students in both courses have been involved in fraudulent situations in the classroom and more than 90% of them believe that other students have participated in academic fraud. The disposition to cheat is greater when friends are also involved. Graduate students tend to minimize the seriousness of fraudulent acts in universities. This article suggests that educational institutions should act to reduce cheating and plagiarism, but also to promote the integrity that should guide academic and professional conduct. Understanding academic behavior in the face of dishonest practices can help to predict and prevent dishonest behavior in the corporative world.
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