By Can academic dishonesty affect your career? The short answer is, “Yes.”
People most often think that academic dishonesty cannot have any long-term consequences. The truth, however, is that academic dishonesty can affect your career in many ways, from getting suspended from school to being banned from prestigious universities, such as Harvard and Oxford. In fact, any type of academic misconduct can come back to haunt you in the future.
You may well ask how this is possible. The answer is rather simple and logical. Universities are in the business of selling their degrees, and they make sure that their degrees are worth the money by keeping a proper check on the academic records of the students. Academic dishonesty can ruin your reputation in front of universities, which may result in being banned from admission to certain colleges or universities, or stripped of your degree if you have already graduated from a university.
What Leads to Academic Dishonesty?
1. Peer pressure
Peer pressure is the most common reason for academic misconduct among students. Peer pressure can come from faculty members, who might give grades to their former students, and thus, influence other students who received a low (or no) grade on an assignment.
2. Performance anxiety
When students find themselves in an academic environment where everyone else seems to perform better than them, they may succumb to the temptation of cheating in order to maintain the same GPA (Grade Point Average) as others.
3. Self-justification habits
People tend to lie when they want to make themselves appear better than they really are. This is often seen in the case of students who cheat on their assignments, as they need to explain their failure to perform as effectively as others in the class.
4. Lack of understanding about the consequences
Many students think that they will not get caught or suffer any consequences if they cheat. This can be quite true in some cases, but this often turns out to be wrong. Once you know the consequences of academic dishonesty, you will be less likely to cheat.
5. Lack of academic self-control
Cheating is often a result of lacking the ability to keep away from temptation. People are unlikely to cheat if they know how to control their urge to cheat under pressure.
6. Lack of self-esteem
All students want good grades, but not all students earn good grades due to a lack of skills or adequate preparation for the class. Cheating can result from a lack of self-worth and low academic confidence.