Intention to deceive: undergraduates' perception of fraudulent excuse-making

Abstract

PurposeIssues on fraudulent excuses have become a common phenomenon at higher educational institutions. Although these misbehaviours can unfavourably impact the quality of graduates, nonetheless, these issues have been largely ignored as the focus of academic debates is placed more on other academic dishonest behaviours such as cheating in exams and plagiarisms. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine undergraduates' perception of fraudulent excuse-making and to offer a fruitful academic discussion on this deceitful behaviour that has been a somewhat undesirable culture in tertiary educational settings.Design/methodology/approachAn online self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted to 346 undergraduates at a Malaysian public university.FindingsThe results suggest that, while the number is low, fraudulent excuses are indeed being mobilised by undergraduate students in their attempt to avoid academic responsibility. The influence of demographic profiles on fraudulent excuse-making is also evident.Originality/valueA scarcity of studies on fraudulent excuses has contributed to a lack of understanding of the pertinent reasons and causes leading to the engagement of these misbehaviours. The paper hopes to shed some light that can be beneficial to the relevant managerial authorities within the university in any policy changes in an attempt to curb this problematic behaviour from continuously affecting the inner quality of graduates.