Blog Post #4: The Mind of a Conman

The reading this week about Diederik Stapel and the rise and fall of his academic career was quite interesting. The New York Times article allowed me to reflect deeper about the culture of academia and research integrity. Most higher education research institutions have a culture of productivity with high pressure on faculty to win money, produce findings, and graduate students. While Stapel acted dishonestly, it is easy to see how this culture could have contributed to his actions and motivations for creating fraudulent data.

In the article, Stapel himself was a major focus. The author provided great detail on his journey, motivations, and current state. However, in situations like this, I often find myself thinking about all of the other people in his life that were impacted by his actions, especially those who were unaware. While Stapel left his job and had consequences to face, his graduate students, colleagues, and family were also left to face the broader impacts of his actions. I hope that they were able to move forward and the extended consequences were minimal but this example is just a reminder of the reach that unethical actions could have.


Comments

  1. rf2021October 7, 2021 at 8:52 AM

    I thought the focus on Stapel himself was interesting, although at the end of the day most of what he said sounded like an excuse. I feel bad for all of the grad students and co-authors whose work was called into question. The way it was written, I almost felt sorry for Stapel that most of his students did not get in touch with him, but then I thought, why should they? He could have ruined their careers along with his own.

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