A Little History

Cheating happens at every educational level but by the time a student enters college, one
might hope that ethical code would already be established. A recent Ghanian study saw
more problems at the graduate level and claimed "our academic discourse appears to be
losing touch with ethics and ethical values" (Nketsiah et al., 2023, p. 10).

This is unsurprising. Surely since the first word and independent idea there have been
"copycats." Bailey (2019) shares that as early as 80 A.D. in Rome, the poet Martial accused a
man named Fidentinus of stealing his work and reciting his poems without crediting him –
or more specifically, without paying him. Once the printing press was invented around
1440, a much wider dissemination of written work was possible. Literacy rates began to
rise and by the Age of Enlightenment, a focus on individual creation rights came to the
forefront. For perhaps 150 years, accusations of plagiarism were made but were
contentious; finally, with the technological advances starting in the mid-20th century, the
issue became more clearly defined, copying was easier to do, and plagiarists easier to
detect (Bailey, 2019).

A 1964 book published by Columbia University is considered a milestone regarding
plagiarism attitudes towards the beginning of this technological age, and it explores gender
as a potential distinction. At the time, there were a far greater number of single-sex colleges
than today, and data pointed to men's colleges enduring more incidents of cheating than
women's colleges (Bowers, 1964). It also indicated co-educational schools experienced an
even higher rate, which was suggested as an outcome of a "greater emphasis on social life
at the coed schools" (Bowers, 1964, p. 171). Among reasons for women's colleges faring
better than the other kinds of schools were a tendency towards smaller class sizes and schools
being more likely to have a written honor code. Bowers (1964) also claimed men were under
more family pressure to attend and complete college, and women were generally held to
higher standards of behavior. While coeducation today is by far more prevalent than 60
years ago, the gender comments written in the 1960s help explain the time's societal
expectations – which may or may not have fully changed.

Why Students Cheat

Understanding the rules and choosing to abide by them are a first concern. Jereb et al.
(2019) suggest plagiarists could be put into three categories: those who are not aware of
the rules, those who know the rules and do not understand the unethical nature of
plagiarism, and those who understand but ignore the rules and ethical implications, as
illustrated in figure 2 below.


The internet has been blamed for making it easy to cheat, although it can also be said it is
easier to identify those who break the rules, too. In an Iranian study, the most compelling
reason for plagiarizing was said to be its ease (Alimorad, 2020).

A 2015 Spanish study of 2,800 students suggested males may be more likely to plagiarize
than females due to a tendency for procrastination (Sureda-Negre et al., 2015; Bailey (2015)
and Lu et al. (2022) concur that males may procrastinate more. Becker and Ulstad
(2007) say female students, on the other hand, might be more concerned about potential
consequences. Women might also be more prone to attempt multitasking (Pagaddu,
2021), although the concept of "multitasking" is debunked by Madore and Wagner (2019),
who explain the brain is really just switching from one task to another, not truly doing two
or more things at the same time.

Some students have a fear of failure that leads to cheating (McCabe and Drinan, 1999). Both
men and women may be inclined to make excuses (Becker and Ulstad,, 2007). Bailey
(2015) identifies lack of understanding course content, difficulty handling heavy requirements,
and not knowing what constitutes plagiarism as additional issues that can affect both genders.
Ahmad et al. (2022) cite motivation and other cultural differences as being the problems
rather than gender. Social constructs to consider include age, previous education, work
and life experiences, family dynamics, and social/cultural values. Additionally, students
have different reasons for pursuing their degrees and may have a lack of organizational and
study skills (Ratnasari, 2019).

Related Issue: Gender and Publications

Per several studies done in 2019-2022, there is an inequality in authorship credit, with
some men taking more credit than their contributions suggest vs. women contributing to
the same projects (Goodman, 2022). Interestingly, both Maddi et al. (2023) and Pinho-
Gomes et al. (2023) report that publications led by men were more prone to retraction
than those led by women.

How Students Cheat

TurnItIn reminds scholars that academic integrity is not just copying word-for-word or forgetting to
cite sources, although those are indeed forms of plagiarism. Other issues include but are
not limited to collusion, wherein students collaborate instead of working independently;
contract cheating by using a third-party to provide assignments (either by purchase, trade,
or free sharing); and misuse of technology to bypass expected originality ("Academic
integrity essentials," 2024). AI generation is a recent challenge to sensible human writing
skills, but even before the turn of this century, McCabe and Drinan (1999) noted the
internet and related technologies provided "new opportunities for cheating" (para. 1).

Mitigations

The key problems can be lessened to an extent. A combination of educating students
through the school's website, orientation events, student newsletters, posters, classroom
announcements, email, syllabuses, and other means implemented by institutions and their
faculty can help to reduce instances of plagiarism.

Recommendations at the school/administrative level

Ashley Squires, Director of the Avila University Writing Center, has created a video,
"How to Avoid Plagiarism, Part II," which stands as an example of what can be done
to guide and inform students on avoiding plagiarism by managing time (Squires, 2022).

Recommendations at the classroom/instructor level

Conclusion

Plagiarism today is not particularly a gender issue even though some studies try to make it
so. It can be argued that men no longer carry the burden of studying to be a sole family
wage earner and women are held to the same standards as men. It has been suggested
procrastination might be more of a concern for men; this can become a slippery slope, as it
leads to the need to complete work quickly, take "shortcuts" and end up with plagiarized
work, whether intentional or not. It has also been suggested women might attempt
multitasking more, and might be more concerned about facing consequences; it is not clear
if the latter would actually be a deterrent, however. Surely a lack of understanding consequences –
or the belief they will not suffer them – as well as a lack of understanding what plagiarism
actually is – could drive any student to plagiarize. Since women also can procrastinate and men
also can be concerned about consequences, studies have been looking at data that is not as
helpful as was hoped. Instead, a focus on major issues such as procrastination experienced
by any student and a well-designed set of mitigations developed by schools and instructors
can help to encourage ethical academic behavior.
 

About the Author

Tamara Fudge, DMus, MSIT, MOS

Tamara Phillips Fudge earned a bachelor's and two master's from the Indiana University School of Music and a DMus. from Florida State University. As a lyric mezzo-soprano, she sang opera, oratorio, and in recital, preferring the latter and specializing for a while in music of the Americas. Her music compositions (mostly chamber music, songs, and choral pieces) have been heard on Public Radio, featured at a state choral convention, and performed at several colleges and universities. Fudge has taught over two dozen different courses at the college/university level in vocal and choral music, foreign language diction, vocal pedagogy, song and choral literature, opera techniques, theory and aural skills, and music composition and arranging.  Dr. Fudge's career then saw several changes. She survived a brief stint as an agent and registered representative selling life insurance and variable products. Her writing was put to the test for seven years working as a weekend correspondent for the Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa), covering Civil War reenactments, tractor shows, small town festivals, symphony reviews, and other local events. While still writing for the newspaper on the weekends, Fudge joined the staff at a local college to teach writing, critical thinking, culture and diversity, and communication classes. Ultimately, a certificate in Web Development from Black Hawk College and an MSIT from Kaplan University led her to online teaching in the realm of Information Technology. She now teaches graduate IT courses for Purdue University Global. Her teaching specialties include web coding and interface design, systems analysis and design, ethics, communication, and organizational skills. Fudge has received outstanding professor awards and won fellowships for innovation and teaching and is a frequent collaborator, writer, and presenter.

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