Predicting the Underlying Factors of Academic Dishonesty by University Students: A Case Study

Cheating in examinations, course work and assignments usually called academic dishonesty, is a macro level problem in education system around the globe. There is no doubt that academic dishonesty is increasing in Pakistan. There are many factors behind why one prefers academic dishonesty over academic integrity. The present study was conducted to look at the underlying factor of academic dishonesty in Pakistan and specifically in University of the Punjab. The present study employed quantitative research methods and used survey technique for data collection. Consequently, the researchers composed structured questionnaire to collect data from targeted respondents. The data was collected from 395 respondents by using the stratified random technique of choosing sample. The method of proportional allocation was used to distribute the total sample size between three strata the relevant formula used for this purpose is nh= n.Nh\N. Factor analysis and multiple linear regressions were used to analyze data. Findings of this study reveal that there is a significant relationship between the variables like gender, peer acceptance, high self-efficacy, fear of exam, fear of failure and academic cheating. While, variables like age, schooling, education system and family systems are insignificant.