Cheating is a topic that has become more common and is a hot button issue. In the first of two articles we have received, it is stated that there has been an increase in cheating among North American business schools. Donald McCabe from Rutgers University, a New Brunswick and New Jersey-based school, is conducting a research on cheating. The first one he conducted spanned 2002 to 2004 and included 32 U.S. universities and colleges. He found 56 percent of graduate business student cheating compared to just 47 percent non-business. The report then explains why these things are happening.
Donald McCabe’s second article explains how a study he conducted with two others in 2006 showed that MBAs cheat far more than other graduate students from the United States or Canada. In his study, 74 percent admitted to using the internet, cribnotes, or looking at another person’s exam during an examination. McCabe has found that MBAs feel they must get the best GPA they can, regardless of whether or not they cheat. These GPAs are like life and death. His research has led him to believe two things: that students who cheat on business exams are more likely to develop ethical problems, if it is easy for them to justify their behavior.
Four professors and assistants professors from the Management Department at Grand Valley State University wrote another article. They studied 268 students from the Business Department. They concluded that while business students may not cheat more often, their perception of what constitutes a cheating act is less strict than those who are not in the field. The study found that cheaters, no matter their major or professional school, tend to be younger and have a lower GPA. Some studies have also come to similar conclusions, while also finding other factors which are related to cheating behavior, such as marital state, various personality characteristics, financial support and work.
Raef a. Lawson wrote about a research he did to find out if cheating in class is associated with a business student’s propensity to cheat. Students believe they are ethically superior to businesspeople. However, reports have shown that cheating in college is common. The study found that while students were upset by cheating in class, many students continued to do so. Students also understand the importance of business ethics and what they must do to succeed. Students believe that people in business have unethical behaviors, but that they are doing it because it’s their only chance to succeed. Students are concerned because it is against their personal ethics.
Two Cal State Fullerton Professors explain how ethical theories can be used to interpret and respond to student plagiarizing. They are trying to determine what ethical theories students will use as a response to the reasons they plagiarized at school. The internet is now accessible to all and improved the teaching. This has led to an increase in plagiarism, whether it’s for writing essays or doing homework. This study shows how unethical behaviors in school can/will translate into unethical business behavior. This study shows that schools must take steps to correct unethical student behavior before students enter the world of business.
Abilene Christians University has a detailed academic integrity policy. It believes that students should show academic integrity regardless of their location, setting or context (ACU). ACU considers plagiarism, collusion and cheating to be academic dishonesty. Abilene Christian wants faculty and students to “honor one another as well as themselves because we were created in God’s image”. We want to use each other’s work, words, and ideas ethically and honestly (ACU). Abilene Christian University views lying and cheating as a serious sin.
The policy encourages us to work hard and be the best person God created us to become. Abilene University wants us to be prepared for the adulting life. By cheating, you don’t gain the knowledge necessary to succeed in adulthood, which could/will hurt you later. The policy is strict to show us what’s acceptable and not, but they are also preparing us to face the real world. ACU is nice, but companies in the real life aren’t as nice. They may not even give you a second glance if they catch you cheating. Real world companies will immediately fire you for cheating. This can lead to you having trouble finding work. Is ACU effective? Sincerity dictates that I do not believe the ACU policy is as effective as I would like it to be. ACU students are not interested in the academic integrity policy. Even though the policy is in place, many students, including those studying business, cheat. Before reading the first policy, I thought that cheating was plagiarism, stealing someone’s work or copying it from another student during an assessment or exam. The policy lists a lot of different types of cheating, which is funny. The teachers find it difficult to catch students cheating with so many different ways. They can also do little if the teacher does not catch the student. This is especially so because I have a student sitting right next me who has cheated on me three times. I told my teacher about it and he said that he couldn’t do much unless he caught her. This is the reason I do not believe that ACU’s Academic Integrity Policy works.
There are many reasons for business students to cheat. This is evident in both the articles and our personal experience. Article 1 shows one of the reasons for cheating by business students. Dr. McCabe said, “The bottom line matters.” It doesn’t matter how you get to the top. This quote illustrates the philosophy that many companies use, and the students who are following this in class. The goal of going to school is to land the job you want. But business schools are places of fierce competition and a need to always be the first. McCabe found that most MBAs are motivated to achieve the best GPA they can, regardless of their means. It is no surprise that students with high GPAs tend to be more inclined to cheat. “The students who cheat are just copying the behavior they believe is necessary for them to succeed in business” (McCabe), showing that there are social ideas and understandings of businesses. Our generations are also becoming more lazy and unwilling to do the work required to get the grades they desire. I’ve heard of and seen people in college who don’t do much work but complain when their grades are low. Some people may not consider cheating what others do. A good example of this is when students collaborate on a task/essay that we were supposed to complete individually. ACU is one school that will definitely consider this as cheating. But for many students, including myself, it doesn’t seem like cheating. I like to talk with others about their essays. But we usually end up writing them ourselves, even if others disagree. In fact, all students cheat in some way.
If we are being honest, there is no way that we could come up with an assessment method that was cheat-proof. Students will always find ways to cheat. Although, I have some suggestions on how teachers can prevent cheating. A lockdown browser would be a good solution if you’re doing multiple-choice questions. There is one difference: the pool of questions can be selected by each student. This makes cheating even more difficult. One way to make it harder for someone to cheat is to have only free response questions. During the exam, I would provide each student with a folder without writing. This would be used for covering their answers. Oral exams are a good solution. The oral exams would take longer but cheating is harder to do if students are pulled from class one at a a time, asked to take them and then told to leave without talking to other students. It would be a good idea to have a teacher monitor the class and prevent students from using their phones. That way the answers will not leak out. However, you could avoid it by asking different questions for different classes or different students. A second solution is for students to turn in their phones to you when they want an exam. They can also use the folder provided to keep their answers hidden. This was done by a teacher and made it easy for them to stop students from cheating or asking their friends or looking up answers on their phones. It’s possible to find many ways to keep students from cheating. Unfortunately, I only have a few.
As we have already stated, companies will fire you immediately if you cheat in real life. Being fired can be a bad thing because you may find it hard to get a new job. I believe in karma and that if you cheat on others, it will eventually catch up with you. I think it’s funny that we trust businesspeople with our money, yet many of them are cheaters. It’s funny that we now live in a society where people are cheating and cutting corners. The economy could be affected by their cheating/cutting of corners. The economy could slow down if consumers become worried about the situation and spend less. Customers may also choose to shop at other companies who don’t have cheaters, causing some to grow while others to go bankrupt. After reading this article, I’m worried about how our society will evolve with the increasing number of cheaters. Someday, we may just stop trusting companies. This can potentially harm us over time.
I have gained a greater understanding of the subject after reading these articles. I’m now wondering what our future as a community will be like. I used to think cheating only happened in a very small group of people. Now, the idea that more people are cheating makes me nervous. It is frightening to think that most business students cheat. It is understandable that people cheat when they are in college. However, for those of us who spend many hours studying and working to complete our work, this is wrong. We need to change business ethics because they seem to be fine with cheating to get where they are going.
