Academic Corruption in Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The focus of this study was to explore the experience of academic leaders and students on the practice of academic corruption and to suggest a workable area of improvement to curb the level of academic corruption in higher education institutions. To conduct this study, phenomenological research methodology through an in-depth interview with ten purposefully selected respondents and document analysis was employed. In line with this, the findings of the study discovered that high level of appropriation in-class hours, complex ways of exam cheating, plagiarism, distorting and fabricating assignment and research findings, and degree mill were dominantly apparent types of academic corruption. Likewise, among the causes of these academic corruptions, the most prevailing ones were high-level of technological reliance, little knowledge about the consequence of academic dishonesty, hopelessness in the return in education, a culture of an easy way out, and family expectations of having a degree were sighted as the push factors from the students’ side. Conversely, lack of professional ethics, failure to use technology to support the teaching-learning and research, lack of pedagogical training and research skills, excessive teaching load, lack of proper accountability and transparency mechanisms, and lack of motivation were the reasons why the academic staffs contributed to this ill behavior. In a similar fashion, the government was also responsible due to failure in devising comprehensive national accreditation mechanisms, lack of concern for the education sector and being a horrific role model in academic engagements for the younger generation. As a result, the quality of graduates and education is in jeopardy. Therefore, since education is the mother of all sectors that needs due attention and to curtail this corrupt trend in the higher education sector, the government and the Ministry of Sciences and Higher Education through collaborative effort from actors in the sector, should envisage a way to create strong colloquium that set standards for academic professional conduct, create technology adaptive environment, be committed to design and execute new ways of responsibility and accountability platform, mainstream ethical standards in the curriculum, and place monitoring and evaluation scheme for creating change adaptive educational context and create a continuous research culture so as to alleviate the shocking academic corruption perceived in the higher education institutions.