Cheating During the College Years: How do Business School Students Compare?

When it comes to cheating in higher education, business school students have often been accused of being the worst offenders; if true, this may be a contributing factor in the kinds of fraud that have plagued the business community in recent years. We examined the issue of cheating in the business school by surveying 268 students in business and other professional schools on their attitudes about, and experiences with, cheating. We found that while business school students actually cheated no more or less than students in other professional schools, their attitudes on what constitutes cheating are more lax than those of other professional school students. Additionally, we found that serious cheaters across all professional schools were more likely to be younger and have a lower grade point average. Helen A. Klein is an assistant professor in the Management Department at Grand Valley State University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Computer and Information Systems and is interested in Object Oriented Software development, business process redesign and the use of ERP as a tool for learning in higher education. Nancy M. Levenburg is an associate professor in the Management Department at Grand Valley State University. She received her Ph.D. degree from Union Institute & University, and has done post-graduate study at Harvard University and UCLA. Her primary research interests include electronic commerce and strategic applications of information technologies. Marie McKendall is a professor in the Management Department at Grand Valley State University. She received her Ph.D. in Management from Michigan State University. Her primary research interest is organizational illegality. William M. Mothersell is an assistant professor in the Management Department at Grand Valley State University. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Labor and Industrial Relations. His research interests include strategic human resource management, organizational behavior and development, and lean transformation.