801 students were found guilty of cheating in 2012 – slightly more people than in 2011. 47 of them were students of Lund University. The majority were suspended.
A new survey by The Swedish Higher Education Authority, UKÄ, shows that 801 students were found guilty of cheating in 2012. 47 guilty students were enrolled at Lund University, and 42 of these cases ended with the student getting suspended. The number of convictions of cheating has increased in the last few years, the largest increase being almost 50% between 2009 and 2010. But numbers from 2012 show a halt in the increase, as only 10 more students were convicted in 2012 compared to the previous year.
Pontus Kyrk, the Legal Advisor of UKÄ, states that Lund University has stayed at about the same level in the last years, roughly 50 cases per year.
”I think Lund University is doing solid work when it comes to counteracting cheating” Pontus Kyrk says, and continues:
”My impression is that they make good, legally tenable decisions.”
Cheating women increasing
The compilation by UKÄ also includes gender in the statistics. At Lund University, 23 women and 24 men were convicted. But since Lund University has more female students than male, men are still over-represented. Pontus Kyrk claims that the trend shows that more women are convicted of cheating than before.
”Historically, there have been more men cheating, but more and more women have been convicted these last few years. It’s possible that the number will be even next year,” Pontus Kyrk says.
Two convicted in Lund
Meanwhile, the statistics for 2013 are in the making. Two weeks ago, the disciplinary board of Lund University convicted two students of cheating. One of them is studying economy and has plagiarized parts of a home assignment made by a student at Linköping University. He will be suspended for three weeks. At the same time, a student at the Centre for Languages and Literature was convicted of plagiarizing the answers to a take-home examination. She will be suspended for six weeks and will not be allowed to participate in any education held at the university during that time.
Text: Samuel Skoog
Translation: Marie Eriksson
