Uncovering The World of Shadow Scholars in Kenya

Before the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, a massive, hidden industry of human writers was already helping students cheat. Imagine a stressed college student, overwhelmed by deadlines. A quick search for "essay writer fast" opens the door to a world of "contract cheating," also known as essay mills. These websites promise custom, high-quality academic papers on demand. This billion-dollar global secret is the focus of a new documentary, “The Shadow Scholars.”

Investigating the Shadow Scholars

The film follows Patricia Kingori, a Kenyan-born sociologist and the youngest Black professor at the University of Oxford. Her interest was sparked when she learned about an online labor force in Kenya involved in "writing and translation work"—a euphemism for the essay mill industry. "I just became really interested in, well, who are these people?" Kingori recalls. For her, the topic was personal, having had her own thesis ideas stolen, which made her believe in an industry where people benefit from the intellect of others.

Kingori shared her discovery with filmmaker Eloise King, who was immediately captivated. "My immediate reaction was how do real people write fake essays? And I was immediately obsessed," Eloise said. Together, they delved into a booming, yet unseen, industry centered in Kenya, where highly educated writers produce academic work for students primarily in the US, UK, and Australia. The documentary moves beyond the simple ethics of cheating to focus on the unseen labor and the complex human stories involved.

Who Are the Shadow Scholars

The term "shadow scholars" forces a confrontation with how we perceive this labor. As Kingori explains, the word "shadow" is often used to describe Africa, implying something non-existent. "To say that they’re shadow scholars, I think is something that’s forcing us to say, are these people real? Are they visible from whose perspective?" The documentary aims to challenge the xenophobic language often used to describe these writers, who are sometimes called "cancers" on the educational system. Instead, it tells the story from their perspective and on their terms.

This is a massive industry, estimated to be worth $15 billion, with over 30 million students globally admitting to contract cheating. Nairobi, Kenya's capital, is a global hotspot with around 40,000 writers, a number that can double during peak demand at the end of semesters. Kenya's strong education system, high literacy rate, and status as an English-speaking country, combined with a lack of local career opportunities, have created the perfect conditions for this industry to thrive.

How the Essay Mill Industry Works

From the student's side, the process is simple. They find these services through social media ads or search engines, select their subject, desired grade, and page count, and make a payment. A paper can cost as little as $8 per page for an undergraduate essay or significantly more for a doctorate-level thesis, with deadlines ranging from months to just a few hours.

The Kenyan writers, or shadow scholars, operate with a keen understanding of student psychology. They set alarms for the early morning hours in Kenya, knowing that's when panicked students in the UK or US will be desperately searching for help online. While some students are wealthy enough to outsource their entire university education, developing long-term relationships with writers, most are not. Many turn to these services as a last resort, overwhelmed by the competitive pressures of university. As one student in the film explains, when it feels like everyone else is cheating, not doing so can feel like falling behind.

The writers profiled in the film are typically in their 20s. They are university graduates like Mercy, a single mother writing essays as a side gig, or Chege, who used his earnings to send his sister to university while his own dreams were put on hold. These writers are not just faceless entities; they often feel a surprising level of empathy for the students they help.

The Human Cost of Anonymity

Despite their intellectual labor and the knowledge they acquire, shadow scholars face significant disadvantages. They receive only a fraction of the fee paid by the student—often around 30%—with the rest going to the agency. More importantly, their work is entirely uncredited. "It doesn’t mean that they’re able to add it to their CV, it doesn’t mean that they are able to get into overseas universities to do a master’s degree, even though they might have been supplying the work for years to students who are going to those institutions," explains Eloise King.

This creates a painful paradox. They are the intellectual ghosts powering Western academic institutions but are barred from entering through the front door. For instance, no university in Australia, a major client market, currently accepts an undergraduate degree from Kenya for direct entry into a master's program. The work also carries legal risks, as contract cheating is illegal in countries like the UK and Australia. This digital paper trail could jeopardize the future careers of both the students and the writers.

Shadow Scholars in the Age of AI

With the explosion of generative AI, many feared the end of the shadow scholar industry. Initially, the writers themselves worried they would be replaced by cheaper, faster AI tools. However, they quickly adapted. Recognizing the flaws in AI-generated content—its hallucinations, lack of nuance, and detectable patterns—they pivoted their services.

"The writers have been really able to exploit that lack of uniform position [from universities on AI] as part of a sales tactic," says Patricia Kingori. They now offer a new, more specialized service: humanizing AI-generated text. Students send them AI-written drafts, and the shadow scholars edit them to remove all traces of AI, check references, and correct inaccuracies. This work requires even more expertise, ironically pushing them further into the shadows while reinforcing the need for human intellect.

Eloise King notes the deep-seated prejudice at play. The world is quick to believe in super-smart robots but struggles to accept that millions of highly educated people in Africa are capable of this level of intellectual work. The documentary, "The Shadow Scholars," serves as a reckoning, questioning the very foundations of academic institutions that award degrees to students who didn't do the work, while the people who did remain invisible. The film seeks to give these writers the recognition they have long been denied.

To learn more, you can follow ShadowScholarsFilm on Instagram for screening updates.