Taxonomy of Corruption in Higher Education

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of corruption that has become common in higher education in developing countries around the world. Cases of educational corruption include, among others, paying bribes for grades, buying diplomas, and admissions to universities. An available body of literature on educational corruption does not provide sufficient insight on the nature and structure of the phenomenon. This article attempts to fill in the gaps by developing the taxonomy of corruption in higher education. This taxonomy distinguishes educational-specific corruption from that common to any public sector by identifying corruption that directly and indirectly involves students. Moreover, this article distinguishes different types of educational-specific corruption depending on the area of occurrence and the agents involved. This classification disaggregates the complex phenomenon of corruption in higher education and develops common understanding of its structure and possible agreement on definitions. Different types of corruption may require different theoretical and methodological approaches if research is to be conducted on educational corruption. Deconstruction of corruption in higher education serves as a tool for further research.

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