SPONSORED INTERVIEW
IS YOUR MBA APPLICATION PROCESS MISSING A CRUCIAL STEP? Alejandro Coca , Co-Head at TrueProfile.io, talks to David Woods-Hale about the ways that a thorough verification process can protect your university from the effects of academic fraud
In today’s hiring landscape employers run the risk of recruiting candidates with false credentials. Can you share some background into the increase of this academic fraud? While countless industries around the world felt the full
of MBA programmes. When the doors of bricks-and-mortar universities had to close in light of the Covid-19 outbreak, MBA syllabuses were taught solely online, heightening their appeal to the majority of students who were twiddling their thumbs at home. While universities welcomed an increase in the number of MBA applications, more applications in a difficult economy can also mean exposure to more risk; namely, academic fraud. As with any recession, the job market becomes tougher than ever which is why many students turn to education to improve their prospects in the first place. However, some unscrupulous applicants take their prospects of successfully gaining admission to an MBA programme into their own hands. How are so-called ‘diploma mills’ exacerbating this serious issue? ‘Diploma mills’ refer to establishments such as a fake university which sell diplomas that are completely fraudulent. Sometimes these will be replica certificates from real (often prestigious) universities, or they will be from entirely fabricated universities that do not exist. No students attend,
no courses are taught and there’s no graduation – simply pay online and the certificate is issued. Are employers able to tell the difference between fake degrees and genuine qualifications? Sadly, as technology gets more sophisticated, so do fraudsters and the certifications made by diploma mills are becoming more and more convincing. So, when compared to a ‘real’ certificate side-by-side, the fake diploma looks entirely legitimate. Without primary source verification (PSV) these fake degrees can slip through the cracks. Primary Source Verification is the means of verifying the accuracy of information directly from the source that is purported to have issued the credential – be that an employer or a university – and gives the highest level of quality and accuracy. What are the implications for Business Schools, with growing numbers of ‘rogue’ graduates entering the job market? Aside from having someone access your MBA programme through deceptive means, it goes without saying that the implications of academic
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force of the pandemic recession, the education sector was not one of the unlucky ones. With everyone isolating at home, people looked towards upskilling and learning in order to become more competitive in the crumbling job market. For MBA Schools, the story was no different and many are predicting a huge upturn in student numbers for the 2020-2021 academic year. In addition to the inversely proportional relationship between the economic climate and MBA applications, it’s important to highlight the improvements made to accessibility
‘More applications in a difficult economy can also mean exposure to more risk’
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