Does academic dishonesty relate to unethical behavior in professional practice? An exploratory study

Abstract

Previous research indicates that students in engineering self-report cheating in college at higher rates than those in most other disciplines. Prior work also suggests that participation in one deviant behavior is a reasonable predictor of future deviant behavior. This combination of factors leads to a situation where engineering students who frequently participate in academic dishonesty are more likely to make unethical decisions in professional practice. To investigate this scenario, we propose the hypotheses that (1) there are similarities in the decision-making processes used by engineering students when considering whether or not to participate in academic and professional dishonesty, and (2) prior academic dishonesty by engineering students is an indicator of future decisions to act dishonestly. Our sample consisted of undergraduate engineering students from two technically-oriented private universities. As a group, the sample reported working full-time an average of six months per year as professionals in addition to attending classes during the remaining six months. This combination of both academic and professional experience provides a sample of students who are experienced in both settings. Responses to open-ended questions on an exploratory survey indicate that students identify common themes in describing both temptations to cheat or to violate workplace policies and factors which caused them to hesitate in acting unethically, thus supporting our first hypothesis and laying the foundation for future surveys having forced-choice responses. As indicated by the responses to forced-choice questions for the engineering students surveyed, there is a relationship between self-reported rates of cheating in high school and decisions to cheat in college and to violate workplace policies; supporting our second hypothesis. Thus, this exploratory study demonstrates connections between decision-making about both academic and professional dishonesty. If better understood, these connections could lead to practical approaches for encouraging ethical behavior in the academic setting, which might then influence future ethical decision-making in workplace settings.

Moral Reasoning, Academic Dishonesty, and Business Students

“…Hilbert (1985Hilbert ( , 1987 investigated nursing students in their final semester and found a positive correlation between academic dishonesty and unethical behaviours in clinical settings. Similar results were reached when Harding, Carpenter, Finelli, & Passow (2004) compared the decision-making process of engineering students with professional engineers. Are business students made of a different cloth?…”

Understanding the Interplay Among Regulatory Self-Efficacy, Moral Disengagement, and Academic Cheating Behaviour During Vocational Education: A Three-Wave Study

“…Specifically, assessing and monitoring students' MD and R-SE at the beginning of their vocational education would allow the educational system to gauge students' general level of leniency and indulgence towards unethical academic conduct and anticipate their proneness to adhere to norms and behavioural codes. In fact, proneness to cheating during this stage could shape ethical conduct in future professional roles (e.g., Harding et al 2004;LaDuke 2013;McCabe et al 2012;Nonis and Swift 2001;Wowra 2007).…”

“…Indeed, the literature suggests that engagement in cheating behaviour shapes future ethical conduct in the workplace (e.g., Harding et al 2004;LaDuke 2013;McCabe et al 2012;Nonis and Swift 2001;Wowra 2007). In addition, while the award of a degree is a certification of competence, when the recipient is a cheater, their competence does not match that of honest graduates, which has the potential to damage the labour market that the graduates are entering.…”

The role of choice provision in academic dishonesty

“…Studies indicate that somewhere between 70% and 95% of college students cheat at some point during their academic careers (McCabe & Trevino, 1997;McCabe, Trevino, & Butterfield, 2001;Whitley, 1998) and cheating may be even greater among younger students (Jensen, Arnett, Feldman, & Cauffman, 2003). Further, academic cheating has consequences for the individual doing the cheating in terms of costs to their learning, others in the classroom in the form of misaligned instruction and unfair grade distribution, as well as society at large given the high probability that academic dishonesty translates to cheating in other contexts (e.g., Harding, Carpenter, Finelli, & Passow, 2004).…”