Empirical Analysis of Cheating Among Students from Different Universities

In this paper, we conducted a study of the prevalence of cheating among university students and analyzed the factors contributing to this phenomenon. Cheating is a form of opportunism, when an individual chooses a strategy to achieve success through deception, manipulation, or forgery. The research was carried out on the basis of a survey created by the authors, whose respondents included more than 500 students from various higher educational institutions throughout Russia from November 2024 to January 2025. 5 probit models were built to test hypotheses about which categories of students are more likely to cheat. Significant factors affecting the level of cheating among students were the following: ease of cheating, the prevalence of cheating among students in the environment, the year of study, the university level, the size of the city, plans to work in the profession, the presence of a stowaway, theft, lying in real life, monthly expenses. Based on the survey, it was possible to prove that economics-studying students cheat off more often than students who are not involved in economic educational programs. In addition, studying on a commercial basis and having a job will increase the likelihood of academic fraud. Despite the fact that it was not possible to prove the influence of students' rationality on cheating, it cannot be completely denied as an influencing factor. The results obtained in the course of the work can be useful for preventing and minimizing cases of cheating, as well as for developing and implementing strategies to increase the degree of academic integrity in universities.