Academic Cheating and Academic Dishonesty: Most Common Among Business Majors

Cheating in any academic setting is prohibited. When students are caught cheating, the sanctions are often quite varied, depending upon the circumstances. For many students, academic cheating results in punishment by the teacher. In other cases, academic cheating may result in full review by the school officials.

In some school settings, especially in secondary school or college, there are specific groups of students who are believed to be more likely to commit acts of cheating when compared to their peers. Students who major in Business or simply taking Business classes are, historically, believed to be the most prone to cheating.

With many colleges requiring business ethics classes as part of the degree curriculum, it is the belief that students in the Business major will learn early lessons on cheating and ethics, with the focus on not only their performance and behavior in college but also their behavior and performance in their professional careers.

For some employers, the concerns over academic cheating and academic dishonesty in college should be taken quite seriously. While employers in those industries such as finance, insurance, accounting and brokerage commonly look for students with Business degrees, the fact is, many of these students may be riskier employees than their counterparts.

Because academic dishonesty and cheating in school are believed to be pre-dispositions to dishonesty and cheating in the workplace, employers in these professional sectors have begun to look to students who have pursued other majors in college. While the need for a specific degree may be necessary to perform the duties of a particular job, many employers are offering on-the-job training and turning to hire college students who have majored in other fields; such as English, Journalism, Sociology and even Child Development.