Malpractice Styles of Students During Examination: Implications for School Social Work Counseling in Non-Asian Cultures

Examination malpractice poses significant challenges to most institutions of higher learning, particularly those from economically disadvantaged countries. Despite the plethora of studies that have been conducted on malpractices, few investigations have been conducted with a diverse, non-Asian sample of students in an attempt to understand the preferred malpractice styles and how they are perpetrated during examination periods. In response, surveys were administered to 120 undergraduate students from diverse Nigerian backgrounds studying allied health science courses and affiliated degree programs in Enugu State, Nigeria. Most respondents were female (78, 65.0%) and Christian students (110, 91.7%) aged 17 to 25 years. The results showed that (61, 51.0%) were admitted to the use of unwanted materials, (28, 23.3%) whispering of answers, (19, 15.8%) writing on part of the body, (7, 5.8%) unauthorized device, (4, 3.3%) financial inducement of official, and (1, 0.8%) in-personation as their preferred malpractice styles during examination. The study recommends, among others, effective ‘management’ of students’ examination supervision, strict enforcement of anti-malpractice policies, and infrastructural development in Nigerian universities. Most importantly, there should be a convincing leadership will on the part of the university management to conduct staff audits and employ qualified, licensed, and practicing school social workers to adequately manage examination sensitization and counseling interventions that will help in reducing the dishonest behavior of students. Implications for future research are also discussed.