Absenteeism in higher education from the students' perspective

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study examining how students assess the motives for their absenteeism from university classrooms. The study is based on the idea that absenteeism is a common handicap in the university setting, and the Social-Legal Sciences are the most affected branch, according to several studies. Therefore, this descriptive study attempts to determine some of the motives presented by university students to skip class. To do so, a questionnaire was designed and implemented as the data collection instrument. The resulting sample consisted of 877 students majoring in Education and Psychology - degrees belonging to the previously mentioned branch - at the University of Seville, Spain. The outcome is based on a description of indicators and their variables, associated with the motives for absenteeism, indicators that revolve around teachers, assessmen,t and subjects. The conclusions include the factors referred to by the students in relation to their class attendance or absence, the highlight being that the students tend to periodically skip class either when teachers fail to use active methodologies, when they do not employ innovating and motivating resources, or when what they learn is not significant to them.