Business Student Perceptions of Academic Cheating: Ethical Theory-Related Rationalizations
Location
Session 4 Presentations - College Students II
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Using six one-sentence ethical theory-related scenarios, this paper explored academic cheating with a sample of business students. The results indicated that while most students would not cheat, about 10-37% would. The highest incidences of cheating were found for the scenarios related to Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics. Differences were found between a created theoretical index and several student demographic variables. Significant higher ethical tendencies were found among older students, female students, students with more than five years of work experience, MBA students, graduate accounting students, and students with conservative political orientations. Of note, no theoretical index differences were found between students who had and had not completed an ethics course. In addition, questions also probed student opinions about the consequences of cheating. The results showed that students agreed that those who fail a course due to cheating should have their unethical conduct reported up the administrative “ladder” and that this behavior should be indicated on the student’s permanent transcript. Nevertheless, they did not want employers or credentialing organizations to have access to so marked transcripts. These findings have implications for pedagogies that include an ethical theory component and for the implementation of meaningful consequences aimed at curbing cheating.
Keywords
Cheating, Academic Misconduct, Ethical Theories, Ethical Scenarios, Business Ethics
Professional Bio
Dr. Donald L. Ariail, CPA, CFF, CGMA, FABFA is a professor of accounting at Kennesaw State University, located in a suburb of Atlanta Georgia. Prior to entering academia, He was, for a number of years, a public accounting practitioner. He holds a DBA in accounting from Nova Southeastern University, a DBL from the University of South Africa, and is currently an EdD candidate at Georgia Southern University. He is the past president of the Gender Issues and Worklife Balace Section of the American Accounting Association (AAA), the Southeast Region of the AAA, the the Georgia Association of Accounting Educators and is currently the vice president of the Georgia Association of Business, Entreprenuership and Economics. His research has appeared in both academic and practitioner publications. His academic works include papers published in Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Issues in Accounting Education, Behavioral Research in Accounting, and Accounting Education; and his practitioner works include papers published in the Journal of Accountancy, and The Tax Advisor.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Ariail, Donald L.; Khayati, Amine; and Melnik, Mikhail, "Business Student Perceptions of Academic Cheating: Ethical Theory-Related Rationalizations" (2021). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 76.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2021/2021/76
Business Student Perceptions of Academic Cheating: Ethical Theory-Related Rationalizations
Session 4 Presentations - College Students II
Using six one-sentence ethical theory-related scenarios, this paper explored academic cheating with a sample of business students. The results indicated that while most students would not cheat, about 10-37% would. The highest incidences of cheating were found for the scenarios related to Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics. Differences were found between a created theoretical index and several student demographic variables. Significant higher ethical tendencies were found among older students, female students, students with more than five years of work experience, MBA students, graduate accounting students, and students with conservative political orientations. Of note, no theoretical index differences were found between students who had and had not completed an ethics course. In addition, questions also probed student opinions about the consequences of cheating. The results showed that students agreed that those who fail a course due to cheating should have their unethical conduct reported up the administrative “ladder” and that this behavior should be indicated on the student’s permanent transcript. Nevertheless, they did not want employers or credentialing organizations to have access to so marked transcripts. These findings have implications for pedagogies that include an ethical theory component and for the implementation of meaningful consequences aimed at curbing cheating.
