A factorial structure of university absenteeism in higher education: A student perspective

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to identify and analyse the most important reasons that influence absenteeism in university classrooms from the students’ perspective. Data have been gathered through a questionnaire answered by 1,896 students from the Business Administration, Economics and Sociology degrees of the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. Both a difference of means and exploratory factor analyses have been applied. Findings show that students differ on these reasons regarding their year and degree of study. The results of the factor analysis reveal five dimensions of reasons for absenteeism: (1) students’ own planning, (2) teaching methodology, (3) learning methodology, (4) course characteristics, and (5) external sources available. These factors call for effective action lines that eliminate the inefficiencies of public resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Student absenteeism
• university
• undergraduates
• reasons for absenteeism
• engagement

Acknowledgments

This project has been developed thanks to a research project REDIC16-1600 funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) of the Universitat de Barcelona.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Program in University Teaching of the University of Barcelona [REDICE 16-1600]

Notes on contributors

X. Triado-Ivern

X. Triado-Ivern is an associate professor at the University of Barcelona. He is the director of the IDP-ICE, the Institute of Educational Science at the University of Barcelona. He is currently a member of the Research Group in Business at the University of Barcelona.

P. Aparicio-Chueca

P. Aparicio-Chueca is an associate professor at the Business Department at the University of Barcelona. She is the director of Master’s Degree in Sport Business Management at the University of Barcelona. Her major research areas are health economy, sports management and innovations and education research.

A. Elasri-Ejjaberi

A. Elasri-Ejjaberi is a doctoral researcher at the Business Department at the University of Barcelona. Her major areas of empirical fieldwork include: sport management and higher education. She is currently a member of the Research Group in Business at the University of Barcelona.

I. Maestro-Yarza

I. Maestro-Yarza is an associate professor at the Department of Economic History, Institutions and Policy and World Economy at the University of Barcelona. Her current major research areas are the Economics of Development, the Development Cooperation and the Asian Economies.

M. Bernardo

M. Bernardo is an associate professor at the Department of Business at the University of Barcelona. Her main interests on research are related to quality management and have also investigated on the students’ competences and the implementation of alternative teaching methodologies to improve students learning, such as games.

P. Presas Maynegre

P. Presas Maynegre is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Business at the University of Barcelona. Degree in Tourism, Master in Tourism Management and Planning, and PhD in Tourism, Law and Business at the University of Girona. Research interests are family businesses, social responsibility and tourism.