Factors that Influence Academic Whistleblowing in Graduate Health Profession Education.

摘要

Cheating in higher education is a growing concern, and graduate health profession education is not immune to this problem (Baldwin, Daugherty, Rowley, & Schwarz, 1996; Dans, 1996; McCabe, 2009; Rabi, Patton, Fjortoft, & Zgarrick, 2006). Students can have an immediate impact on the problem, but little is known about what influences them to turn in another classmate for cheating. The purpose of this study was to understand what contextual and individual factors would influence gradaute health profession students to turn in a classmate for cheating (academic whistleblowing) and is the first study to explore this in interprofessional health profession education.;The following research question guided the study: If a graduate health profession student observes or is made aware of a peer engaging in academic dishonesty or misconduct, what individual and contextual factors would influence them to engage in the academic whistleblowing process? This study tested an original model created from an extensive literature review related to whistleblowing.;Quantitative methodology was employed using the data collection technique of a survey. There were 505 graduate health profession students from nine programs that participated in the survey.;Findings suggest that, in response to six scenarios of cheating, 11.4% of graduate health profession students will definitely report the cheating. The more serious the behavior is perceived, the more ethical the student considers themselves to be, and when the behavior of the wrongdoer negatively impacts the observer are all individual factors that will increase the likeliness for a student to be an academic whistleblower. Friendship is an individual factor will decrease the likeliness to report. The contextual factors that increase the likeliness to be an academic whistleblower are when the climate supports reporting and academic integrity, when anonymous reporting is available, and when handbooks state it is a student expectation. There is no difference between male and female reporting intentions, and the wrongdoer being in another degree program has no influence on reporting. Additionally, first year students are more likely to report than students in their second or later year, and there are significant differences in the reporting intentions of the various degree programs.