More than half of graduate business school students in America admitted to cheating at least once during the last academic year, according to findings from an Academy of Management Learning & Education report released this Monday.
The findings were presented in an interdisciplinary journal, entitled "Academic Dishonesty in Graduate Business Programs: Prevalence, Causes, and Proposed Action." The article found that 56 percent of graduate business school students cheated last year, compared to 47 percent of other graduate school students.
Donald L. McCabe, professor of management and global business at Rutgers Business School and one of the report's authors, said the increased cheating was due to students coming from business backgrounds where a different mentality is present.
"They worry less about how the job gets done if that's what it takes to succeed," McCabe said.
McCabe pointed out that the Darden School did not participate in the survey, although the University has taken part in his other research.
"Improved academic integrity ... is a community responsibility," McCabe said. He cited the respectability of the University's honor code and tradition of student self-governance.
The University's "model could be modified for other campuses and have some merit," McCabe said.
Honor Committee Chair Alison Tramba agreed with McCabe's analysis.
"In general, schools with honor systems see less cheating than schools without them," Tramba said. "We, of course, see a couple of cases from Darden every year," she added, though the number of Darden cases did not seem significant, she said.
Charles Vaughters, Honor Committee member and Darden Student Association vice president for honor, said the report findings did not resonate at Darden.
There is "absolutely not a cheating problem," Vaughters said.
Articles like Monday's report and recent corporate scandals have directly affected business graduate schools, including the Darden School.
"We touch upon [ethical issues] in almost every class," Vaughters said.
Vaughters also objected to the stereotype of businessmen having a succeed-at-all-costs attitude.
"That attitude can work in the short run, but ... [for the long term], integrity and ethics are more important," Vaughters said.
Vaughters explained that getting ahead at any cost was never emphasized at the Darden School.
It's "all about collaboration and community," Vaughters said. The community "doesn't tolerate [cheating]. ... You really have trust in the people you're working with."
--Maggie Thornton contributed to this article.
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