Today’s students do not appear to be any less aware of the moral implications associated with "cheating," but many have convinced themselves that what they are1 doing is not cheating. They have rationalized their choices, leaving no moral implications left to consider.
A scandal at Harvard University has many educators talking about cheating and whether anything can be done about it. Experts say that many students arrive in college already skilled and not morally troubled by cheating and scandals at top high schools back up this point of view.
What, if anything, can professors and colleges? These issues are explored in a new book, Cheating at College: Why Students Do It and What Educators Can Do About It (Johns Hopkins University Press). The authors are Donald L. McCabe, professor of management and global business at the Rutgers University Business School; Kenneth D. Butterfield, associate professor of management, information systems and entrepreneurship at Washington State University; and Linda K. Treviño, professor of organizational behavior at Pennsylvania State University.