Assessing Male vs. Female Business Student Perceptions of Plagiarism at a Southern Institution of Higher Education
Article 1.
DOI: 10.20429/ger.2016.130101
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gerjournal/vol13/iss1/1
Assessing Male vs. Female Business Student Perceptions of Plagiarism at a Southern Institution of Higher Education
Daniel Adrian Doss
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Article 1
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This quantitative research is available in Georgia Educational Researcher: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gerjournal/
vol13/iss1/1
Daniel Adrian Doss University of West Alabama
Russ Henley University of West Alabama
Ursula Becker Georgia Military College
David McElreath University of Mississippi
Hilliard Lackey Jackson State University
Don Jones Belhaven University
Feng He Mississippi State University
Mingyu Li University of West Alabama
Shimin Lin
University of West Alabama
Abstract: Plagiarism, cheating, and academic dishonesty affect institutions of
higher education. This study examines student perceptions of plagiarism within a
Southern, Division-II teaching institution. This study employed a five-point
Likert-scale to examine differences of perceptions between male versus female
business students. Two statistically significant outcomes were observed between
males and females involving the notions that plagiarism is perceived as a
necessary evil and that plagiarism is illegal. Respectively, the analyses of the
means showed that both male and female respondents tended toward
disagreement concerning whether plagiarism is a necessary evil and neutrality
regarding whether plagiarism is illegal.
Introduction
The host institution for this study is a four-year, regional teaching institution located in
the Southeastern U.S. Its service area primarily extended throughout the Black Belt region
thereby representing one of the poorest regions within the state (Allen, Henley, & Doss, 2014;
Sheffield, 2016). At the time of this study, its cumulative enrollment was approximately 5,000
students (both residential and virtual campuses combined, including graduates and
undergraduates). The overall enrollment within its College of Business was 312 students.
Academically, it awards both graduate and undergraduate business degrees, and minors among
business areas are available for undergraduates. The highest degree awarded by the host
institution is the Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degree whereas the lowest degree awarded is the
Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree. Its College of Business awards the A.A., Bachelor of Business
Administration (B.B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Technology, and Master of Business
Administration (M.B.A.) degrees. The host institution also awards undergraduate certificates in
homeland security and geospatial information systems. The host institution possesses regional
accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and possesses program
accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.
During the preceding five years, the host institution entered into a variety of
international agreements and commenced offering new programs to attract new students in order
to increase student enrollment within its College of Business. International agreements consisted
of partnering with two Chinese universities to import students within its undergraduate B.B.A.
degree. New programs included the offering of an undergraduate certificate in homeland
security, the addition of a finance concentration within its B.B.A. program, and the addition of an
M.B.A. program that contained general and finance concentration areas.
These new programs attracted a variety of domestic and international students, both
undergraduate and graduate. However, despite achieving its goal of increasing enrollment
numbers, the College of Business experienced the age-old issues of plagiarism. Essentially,
when enrollment increased, so did instances of plagiarism. Depending upon the severity of the
plagiarism, the consequences at the host institution may be dire for students. Generally,
reprimands are issued along with some type of academic monitoring to ensure that infractions do
not occur again. In a worst case instance, the host institution may expel plagiarists who exhibit
egregious acts or that recidivate during succeeding assignments.
After attempting to initially mitigate plagiarism increases through organizational policies
that necessitated expulsion, the host institution realized that deterring and correcting aberrant
behavior to ensure student retention was less expensive than completely expelling students and
obtaining replacements. Given these incidents, the College of Business conducted a survey to
better understand the mindsets, motivations, and perceptions of plagiarism within its student
body. Three issues were investigated within the survey: 1) perceptions regarding the necessary
evil aspects of plagiarism, 2) perceptions of professionalism, and 3) perceptions regarding the
legality of plagiarism.
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