Organizational Theory and Student Cheating: Explanation, Responses, and Strategies

Commercialization of Higher Education

“…Students operating under the credentialed view perceive higher education as a stepping stone to financial and status rewards, instead of an opportunity for learning, and are more likely to condone and engage in cheating behaviors as a means to an end: higher grades and degrees for the purpose of achieving a higher quality of life (Bertram Gallant and Drinan 2006). However, where academic dishonesty is prevalent at an institution, degrees and transcripts are merely signals that a student can cheat without getting caught.…”

“…Where attending a football tailgate is praised as more culturally relevant than studying for exams, academic work is likely to take a backseat to sporting events. What were once athletic programs to promote educational values are now educational programs to promote athletic competition (Duderstadt 2000;Bertram Gallant and Drinan 2006). Students are socialized into sports culture, which distorts university priorities by rewarding student-athletes with celebrity status, despite acknowledged and very public scandals involving both academic and even criminal violations (Benford 2007).…”

“…Thus, in an academic environment marked by dishonesty, credentials are useless as markers of substantive knowledge (Brown 2001). Increased competition among students -for grades, jobs, and graduate school admission -in tandem with the exaltation of opportunistic values, shifts the focus of students in school from thriving to surviving, encouraging victory in the form of grades and degrees by any means necessary (Bertram Gallant and Drinan 2006).…”

“…The culture of an institution is manifested through the behavior of faculty (Bertram Gallant and Drinan 2006). All students have the opportunity to interact with their professors throughout their tenure.…”

Brief valuation of Systems, Applications & Products (SAP) corporation

“…Such aspects make it harder to inculcate an ethical ethos in DHE (Gallant and Drinan, 2006). The attitudes of lecturers towards unethical practice by students are also important and the manner in which they tackle unethical issues must be consistent and sanctions should be meted out formally to offenders.…”