Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct

As a university student, I am immersed in an academic world where I must constantly be reading, writing, and studying for various classes. There is always a long list of tasks that I must complete before my next class. Balancing academic calendars alongside social calendars and work calendars can be difficult for students.

Drowning in schoolwork, high tuition costs and pressure to succeed are some of the many reasons students are compelled to commit academic misconduct. This blog post will analyze academic cheating in current events and expand on how these stories raise the question – do individuals who cheat, value academic integrity or academic community?

Firstly, we must define academic integrity. The University of British Columbia (UBC)  describes academic integrity as “honest and responsible.” UBC is basically saying that academic integrity is when all members of an academic community (faculty and students) are producing authentic work. Academic misconduct can range from plagiarism to helping another student on a test. When someone lapses in academic integrity they are committing academic misconduct.

In the 2012 Harvard Crimson article by Rebeeca D. Robbins, she reports an event at Harvard University where 125 students out of the 279 students in the class were being investigated for academic misconduct. The students were given a take-home final exam and were expected to complete the exam on their own. However, multiple students collaborated with one another, which was a violation of the exam protocol and academic integrity. The students worked in their academic community to commit academic misconduct.

The next news story by The New York Times reports an incident on Long Island, where multiple high school students were caught hiring others to write their exams for them. Some students had paid up to $3,600 to hire someone to write their exams. Individuals writing the exams and individuals who are paying for the exam have been arrested. This story illustrates how individuals are blatantly disregarding academic integrity to further themselves because students are putting more effort into cheating than they are into their studies.

Students feel required to cheat because they must achieve high grades and they believe cheating is the only way possible. According to Educational Testing Service (EST), an organization dedicated to advancing education through constant evaluations and research, students who cheat believe their actions are justified. Their reasoning is that everyone cheats, so they should cheat as well to stay ahead of the class. This is a major issue because students are following in the footsteps of others and not considering their own personal values – they are blinded by the goal of doing well.

To answer the question I posed at the beginning of this post –do individuals who cheat value academic integrity or academic community? – I would answer that individuals who cheat do not value academic integrity to the full extent, however, they do value academic community. In this blog post, I have referenced articles and studies that demonstrate cheater’s first priority is their grades. They will ignore ethics in order to achieve high marks. Students are willing to pay thousands of dollars in order to receive high marks. Cheaters do, however, value academic community, or more accurately, their place in the academic community. This is demonstrated through the lengths students will go to in order to stay a part of the academic community. Cheaters commit academic misconduct so that they will be able to keep their position in the academic community, regardless of the fact that they do not respect the values the community has in place.