Business school students may be more likely to cheat than students from any other academic discipline, according to research conducted by Donald McCabe, a management and global business professor at Rutgers University Business School. McCabe said he revealed a summary of his findings, based on 19 years of personal research, to a group of business school deans at the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business’ annual meeting earlier this month.
There are a number of factors that play into the cheating phenomena frequently seen at business schools, McCabe said.
“The risk-reward ratio is higher in business school than other disciplines,” McCabe said. “The kind of student attracted to business school as a profession sees getting the job done as the most important thing. There is a greater emphasis on attaining skills rather than how to go about doing so.”
McCabe added that another reason for high levels of cheating among business students may be that business as a subject differs from other graduate disciplines. A 2006 study released by McCabe found that 56 percent of graduate business school students cheated in 2005, compared to 47 percent of other graduate school students.
“Business school is different from the liberal arts in that it emphasizes the idea of one right answer,” McCabe said. “If you’re taking a multiple-choice exam, there is a big payoff in being able to see answers and copy them.”
Darden School Dean Robert Bruner noted, however, that the exams Darden students take are not multiple-choice and require complex answers which cannot be copied easily.
“We’re testing more for qualities that are difficult to cheat on, such as the ability to synthesize analysis with action and make a recommendation,” Bruner said. “Students must also be able to frame a plan of action and communicate a vision effectively. All of this suggests that Darden is very different from the kinds of schools that must have been included in this professor’s [research].”
Bruner also noted that the University’s graduate business school has a uniquely structured teaching methodology that makes cheating less likely to occur.
“At Darden, 40 to 50 percent of the grade is based on participation, which makes it harder to cheat,” Bruner said. “Students are questioned and expected to reply on an impromptu basis.”
While McCabe’s conclusions are based on substantial research conducted during the course of a long career, Bruner said he does not believe they are uniform.
“I believe we need to be extremely careful not to tar all business schools or their students with such findings,” Bruner said. “The [Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business], the organizational body responsible for accrediting business schools, estimates that there are more than 10,000 institutions in the world that award degrees in business. It seems likely that with such a large population, cheating in business schools approximates cheating at the world at large.”
McCabe also acknowledged that cheating may be less likely to happen at more prestigious business schools.
“At the most competitive schools, graduating is good enough,” McCabe said. “I’ve had students tell me that ‘Since I’m not at Harvard or another top business school, my GPA needs to be higher, so I have no choice but to cheat.’”
Bruner also added that the Darden School works hard to convey the importance of practical ethics; Darden students are required to take a graded course about the field.
“We do that because we believe everyone can benefit from the study of ethics and business,” Bruner said.
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