Effects of Demographic Variables on Academic Dishonesty Among Undergraduate University Students in Public Universities in Ghana

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of demographic variables on academic dishonety among undergraduate university students in public universities in Ghana using a survey-inferential design. The target population for this study was all the final year undergraduate students enrolled on full time programmes estimated at 22,458. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the sample of 1,200 from three public universities in Ghana. The study adapted 19-item Prevalence of Academic Dishonesty Instrument (PADI) developed by de Lambert, Ellen, and Taylor (2003) to collect data. Independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used to test the hypotheses. The result revealed that there was no statistically significant effect of gender on academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty was more pronounced  among the older students with age group of 33 and above than any other age group of students. It was further ascertained that there existed a statistically significant effect of programme of study on academic dishonesty. It is recommended that university authorities should counsel students especially the older students to keep daily planner and manage their time to maximise their academic success instead of indulging in  academic dishonesty for success. University authorities should drive the campaign to sensitise students irrespective of programme on the ill-effect of academic dishonesty..