University absenteeism: Students’ and lecturers’ point of view

The main aim of this study is to analyse the students’ absenteeism reasons in different social science degrees taught at the Universitat de Barcelona. Both the students’ perception and lecturers’ perception are studied and compared. A survey was used in order to gather data from both students and lecturers. The final samples analysed were 2,673 students from five different degrees and 276 lecturers or staff members. A difference analysis of means using ANOVA and a factorial analysis were done to analyse the data. The findings show that students and lecturers identify the reasons of absenteeism similarly, although the level of importance given is different. From the factorial analysis, students grouped the reasons into five factors, while lecturers do it in four. How students design their profiles and the teaching methodology are similar factors for both. However, students differentiate among different aspects of the subject, while lecturers consider these aspects as a whole. This is one of the first studies, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, in comparing the students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the absenteeism reasons. The results of this research would help in proposing actions to be taken to increase students’ engagement and to reduce the gap in perceptions of both groups. The identification of stakeholders’ responsibilities will also help in reducing absenteeism.

See paper

See paper

students’ absenteeism, subject characteristics, teaching methodology, students’ profile