Ethics and academic fraud among higher education engineering students in Portugal

The aim of this paper is to analyze engineering Portuguese students´ perceptions and behavior concerning the seriousness, the motives and the inhibiting factors of fraud committed in academic context. Students´ views on the reasons for fraud and the factors inhibiting such behavior will also be highlighted, recognizing their relevance to ethical reflection. A face-to-face survey was applied to Portuguese higher education engineering students, resulting on 1527 valid responses. Overall, students recognize the existence of fraud. Engineering Portuguese students clearly distinguish the seriousness of different types of academic fraud. They tend to condemn not fraud itself but the types of fraud permeated by economic and social factors; i.e., family and social capital resources.