Why Do Students Cheat - Essay Example

?Cheating has often been a topic of research since a long time and has been a well researched topic since it is a well-known fact that cheating is a common crime reported at academic level. Thus, research in recent years has turned towards exploring the causes of cheating rather than the phenomenon itself. The major factors that have been highlighted by researchers as amongst the major causes of cheating are limited time available to students, the prevailing culture that encourages cheating, weak regulations and punishments that discourage students from cheating in future as well as getting the opportunities to cheat. These causes have been explored in greater depth and their strength in leading students towards cheating has been highlighted. Cheating, often termed as academic dishonesty, is a frequently reported academic crime by various colleges and universities. According to the statistics by Duke University, approximately 10% of students in their graduating year had been guilty of cheating (Conlin). Further research in this area has explained the fact that cheating is not the story of just one college or university; it is the story of most universities and colleges across the globe. So much is the frequency of cheating that it has been defined as “rampant” according to one study (Simkin and McLeod). Statistics have depicted a continuous rise in the percentage of college students who have cheated, from 60% to as high as 86% (Whitley). The phenomenon of cheating is a matter of great concern not only to academic institutions today but also employers because it has been observed that cheating at the college level translates to immoral behavior at the workplace. Researchers have found a link between cheating and unethical practices at work (Thompson). Cheating is, thus, rooted in individuals’ attitudes towards dishonesty and is less a superficial practice and more of a serious issue. Thus, dishonesty in academics translates to dishonesty at work. A less obvious form of cheating is the practice of individuals who, for a large fee worth several dollars, take the test for an individual (Simkin and McLeod). A significant cause of cheating is the access to technology, particularly the internet that has encouraged the practice of cheating. The internet has boosted options for students to cheat; it provides various channels through which students can view solution manuals, test banks and quizzes (Simkin and McLeod). Exchange of solutions to future test questions amongst students is another major aspect of cheating. The mobile technology has also been used to take images of test papers as well as text the correct answers to students during exams. However, this has raised questions as to what are acceptable practices and what are not. If individuals are to succeed in managerial positions, they have to engage in sharing of information and resources as well as team work. According to some individuals, the practice of getting one’s exam written by someone else is seen as a sign of creativity on the part of students who look for new ways of succeeding (Conlin). According to these individuals, what matters is the concern that students have for getting the work done correctly, not the means through which it is done. Those who are against the practice of cheating, however, argue that cheating is looked down upon because it degrades the reputation of institutions, reduces the value of the degrees given to students, and results in dissatisfaction of employees who find that their employees are unable to perform the tasks that are depicted by their majors (Knowledge). In an interesting study regarding cheating in business schools, it was pointed out that business schools struggle to encourage ethical principles in students so that they display ethical behavior at workplace. This goes along with the expectation that business schools will put special effort to encourage ethical principles in students such that they will display true professionalism at work. The concern for cheating is especially high for business students because these are the students that cheat more compared to non-business students. Researchers have suggested that students who have majors in business have much lower ethical principles compared to those who don’t (Harris). This observation was confirmed by another study where it was discovered that students with majors in business had lower ethical values compared to students from fields such as arts, humanities, science, engineering etc (Carauna and Ewing). Several explanations have been offered for cheating. One leading explanation relates to the existence of opportunity. For instance, individuals who have access to resources on the internet tend to display higher levels of plagiarism and cheating from these sources than those who do not (Simkin and McLeod). Thus, for such students it is convenient to quote information from the internet without citing proper references and credit to the authors and making the work appear as their own. Another major motivator behind cheating is the ultimate objective of succeeding and leading the competition behind. In an attempt to outdo others in the aggressive competition today, students often ignore the means and concentrate on the end; that is, success in this case (Simkin and McLeod). Thus, they tend to end up cheating. However, this is a contradictory finding because it is in conflict with the objectives of group victory that have preference over individual success today. Furthermore, the fact that students today are pressed for time (for instance, due to extracurricular activities and social networking) also provides an incentive to cheat and get away with plagiarized work. A major point here is that students these days often work and study at the same time. These part-time students work and study which puts pressure on them to do well at study in the limited time available. For this reason they try to find the easier way out and cheat. A third major factor is the weak punishments and disciplinary procedures that exist in institutions today that let go of students who engage in cheating. The most severe of these punishments is giving a zero to assignments that have been cheated, which is subject to the fact that the instructor is able to find and prove that the student is guilty of cheating (Simkin and McLeod). A fourth and final explanation offered for this phenomenon is the fact that instructors are often reluctant to severely punish the cheaters which encourages cheating in future. In certain schools the procedure is such that the instructor is required to file the case for a student’s cheating with the administration of the institution and then justify and prove their case (Simkin and McLeod). Thus, the practice of cheating is encouraged by factors such as the lack of appropriate powers of instructors to punish the cheaters which ultimately results in the continued presence of such cheaters in classroom environments. Such cases provide a role model for others to follow and a chain reaction occurs on the basis that if one cheater wasn’t punished severely there’s no reason why the other one would be. Thus, this tolerance for indiscipline encourages students to continue cheating without considering it as a serious offense. Yet another explanation of cheating is the fact that cheating has not been defined in a strict sense (Simkin and McLeod). Therefore, to get a small glance of someone’s paper or to have a small level of plagiarism is no longer considered an offense. It is seen as something very normal and is not seen as an intolerable offense. Finally, students who have high levels of morality and personal ethics engage in less cheating than those who do not (Simkin and McLeod). Thus, dishonesty in academics is deeply rooted in individual attitudes towards dishonesty. In another major research, it was found that cheating behaviors are influenced by the type of motivation (extrinsic or intrinsic) that students have with respect to learning (A., Rettinger and Kramer). Students who have extrinsic motivation with respect to studying (achievement of high performance and grades) are more likely to cheat than those who have intrinsic motivation (the desire to learn) (A., Rettinger and Kramer). Thus, students who desire to appear competent are more likely to cheat than those who do not. Furthermore, students who find ways to blame others for their cheating (such as a strict instructor, strict grading criteria at school or simply the culture prevailing amongst students) are more likely to engage in cheating behaviors. Therefore, although almost every student knows that cheating is a wrong activity, they engage in it because of peer pressure or the culture prevailing amongst their friends that is favorable to cheating. However, critics argue that merely seeing others cheat is not a sufficient explanation for cheating. Cheating requires much more than simply seeing one’s friends cheat. On the contrary, if most of the friends are cheating then the simple fact that everyone else is cheating motivates one to cheat. Thus, the causes as mentioned above have been identified by researchers from various studies as being crucial to the phenomenon of cheating. Just as it is important to identify the root causes of this phenomenon, it is important to recognize the actions that need to be taken by various faculty members across colleges and universities to discourage cheating. One basic move in this regard would be to make students aware of cases where students who were performance oriented and who cheated to get ahead suffered adverse consequences. This shall discourage those students who think that by cheating they can become successful. However, it is important to recognize that these cases should not be overly publicized or they’ll lose their importance (Simkin and McLeod). Personal responsibility should be encouraged and students should have the level of personal ethics necessary to discourage them from cheating. It is important to develop a culture in institutions whereby the moral consequences of students’ cheating are emphasized rather than the material ones. Another obvious, yet major, action in this regard would be for instructors to allocate some of the class time explaining the disciplinary procedures, including the severe punishments of cheating. The actions implemented will differ from institution to institution, depending on the level of cheating that is practiced. To conclude, it is an undisputed fact that the phenomenon of cheating has grown over the years. Researchers have gone at length to identify the causes behind cheating. It is realized with the passage of time that now the focus ought to shift towards providing solutions to this problem. It is crucial to note that cheating is not just academic dishonesty but also personal dishonesty. It ought to be curtailed not just for enhancing academic standards, but for creating and churning better human beings. References: A., David, Rettinger and Yair Kramer. "Situational and Personal Causes of Student Cheating." Res High Educ (2009): 293–313. Carauna, A. and M. T. Ewing. "The Effect of Anomie on Academic Dishonesty of University Students." The International Journal of Educational Management (2000): 23-29. Conlin, M. "Cheating - Or Postmodern Learning." Business Week (2007): 42-42. Harris, J. "Ethical Values and Decision Processes of Male and Female Business Students." Journal of Education for Business (1989): 234–238. Knowledge. "College Cheating is Bad for Business." 24 September 2008. W.P. Carey School of Business. 10 February 2012 . Simkin, Mark G. and Alexander McLeod. "Why Do College Students Cheat?" Journal of Business Ethics (2010): 441–453. Thompson, N. "Survey Finds 1 in 3 Workers Sees Abuses." The Sun 14 June 2000: C1-C3. Whitley, B. "Factors Associated with Cheating Among College Students: A Review." Research in Higher Education (1998): 235–274. Read More