Ethical Scholarship

1
Ethical Scholarship

• From the perspective of University of Western
  Sydney students and Aspire Scholars
• Roy Mariathas, currently studying Medicine
• Anaum Zahid, currently studying Business and
  Commerce
• Fabiola Fugazza currently studying Law/ Business
  and Commerce

2
Tell us briefly about an ethical dilemma related
to your education.
Roy My ethical dilemma involves aspects of
confidentiality and patient autonomy when it
comes to meeting patients in hospitals. Meeting
patients in hospitals requires us to place
absolutely no pressure on them to be interviewed.
Hence rather than directly ask them, a neutral
party is sought to be a representative for the
students so that the patient is placed in a
situation to say no comfortably. With
confidentiality, we are allowed to discuss cases
without revealing any identity. If students find
this to be troubling, we are simply asked to not
speak about patient cases in the open. More
importantly, discussion of cases within hospitals
is kept under tight wraps so as to avoid
disclosure of details by accident.
Fabi Within study of law especially, students
are constantly reminded that academic misconduct
can lead to non admittance upon application at
the Bar. Thus an ethical dilemma is presented for
most, in that while it is the intention of most
students not to engage in misconduct such as
collusion and plagiarism, it is often difficult
and stressful to ensure one hasnt commit acts of
misconduct inadvertently as not all forms are
blatant in nature, even though the consequences
are costly. Thus there is a dilemma in ensuring
that credit is always given where due, even for
inspiration of ideas . This dilemma can be tough,
especially where the line between sharing ideas
or working together and collusion may be fine.
Anaum As a part of our Accounting Information
for Managers unit at uni, we had a group project
which involved the analytical review of a
company' annual report. 5 companies were
available and selection of them was randomby our
tutors. My group got Blackmores Pty Ltd. Through
the course of meetings for the assignment in the
uni library, we came across other groups who had
the same company. Their assigment was finished
and they offered to give us the
answers. Considering that there was a day left to
go and more than half of the assignment was due
to be completed, a key member dropped the unit
and our group leader didn't know it was due the
next day- the temptation was high. However, 2 out
of 3 group members refused to take the answers
and hence we did the assignment on our own.
3
Without mentioning names, what do you think
motivates students to breach ethical standards?
Fabi I believe what motivates students to
breach ethical standards is the temptation of
being able to evade hard work and effort required
to produce an original and high quality piece of
academic writing and instead use the work of
someone else which may be more insightful than
what the student themselves can produce. With the
pressure that may exist to pass or obtain high
grades, often a lack of self confidence, a lack
of preparation or sheer laziness can motivate
someone to use the work of others in place of
their own. The same motivations could also drive
people to engage in collusion in the hope that
more than one person working on a project will
achieve a better result with less effort
involved.  
Anaum The fact that many students dont believe
their work is better than what they can find in
books or the net, which may lead them to
plagiarise. Another would be time limits- given
the amount of time they have, plagiarism may seem
like a better option than failing- should the
marker not discover it. The most unacceptable
motivator for breaching ethical standards can
simply be laziness. Many students won't have any
input in a group assignment and take credit for
good marks, simply because they cant be
bothered, which is ethically wrong.
Roy I think that where there is an opportunity
to put oneself in a position of advantage there
may lie motivation to breach ethical standards.
For example, in regard to patient autonomy, when
a student simply does not comply to the standards
set by the clinical school, it is an obvious act
to disregard the patients sense of freedom due
to overriding desire for more practise or
better skills for oneself. Similarly,
confidentiality can be lost with the excitement
of one caught up in the moment where revealing
facts and details openly will promote your skill
and clinical experience. Also where there exists
inequality of opportunity between students those
with lesser resources may seek to fill the gap
through acts of academic misconduct.
4
What do you think most students draw on to
establish their own ethical standards?
Anaum Most of all, probably family values and
religious values, but a big part of what a
persons ethical standards are depends on past
experiences which form a persons outlook on life
and how they deal with ethically challenging
situations.
Roy Drawing on situations that are to arise, it
will be a combination of these values taught to
us at a scholarly level as well as collective
influence of the relationships that we form up to
that day which will influence how we react to
situations of ethical dilemma.
Fabi I think students draw on their personal
belief system to establish their own ethical
standards. This personal belief system is derived
from family values, religious beliefs, and the
company which they hold, as well as the education
they receive and the community which they are a
member of.