Burnaz Stefania Gabriela group 943

Student absenteeism
Causes and solutions

1.Research topic
Growing up and going to university gives you responsibility,
but also freedom. Students finally have the freedom to
choose whether or not to attend all the classes, as they will
not be punished if the fail to attend courses. Lets find
together which are the causes of student absenteeism and
what can be done to prevent it.

2.Data collection methods

The data has been collected by conducting face to face
interviews. I recorded all the materials with a video camera
and put them together so I can watch them again and
observe the similarities.

3.Data analysis
After all the interviews have been conducted and filmed, I
looked into them for a second time and noted the most
important information. I observed my respondents answers
and I organized them by the similarities and the differences
found.
4. Research questions
What are the main causes of students absenteeism?
How do students think the rate of absenteeism can be
influenced?

Burnaz Stefania Gabriela group 943

5.Interview questions
1. How frequently do you miss classes? Could you tell me
some of the motives that influence you to skip classes?
2. Do you think the attitude of the teacher towards students
influences the attendance at a course? Can you give me
some examples?
3. From your point of view, is there anything universities
could do to encourage students to increase their
attendance?
4. Does going to university gives you the chance to develop
skills you wouldnt be able to develop otherwise? How?
5. Does the attendance to a class affect the results in a final
exam?
6. Would you increase your attendance if it was mandatory?

6.Respondent profile
All the people interviewed were aged 18 and above. I chose
12 students from 3 different universities: The Faculty of
Applied Modern Languages (The Academy of Economic
Studies), The Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic
Informatics (The Academy of Economic Studies) and from
The Faculty of Medical Engineering (Polytechnic University).
In terms of gender, the majority of respondents were female
(60%).

7.Findings
I have discovered some of the main reasons why students
fail to attend courses, in this way increasing the rate of
absenteeism. I will now continue by listing the main
problems i came across.
Attendance
The average rate of attendance for the students interviewed
was of 7 out of 10. The factors that influenced our
respondents attendance were:
- The attitude of the teacher

Burnaz Stefania Gabriela group 943

- The university environment

- The quality of the subject (the subject is not interesting)
Teacher
A majority of the respondents ( 10 out of 12) explained me
why the teacher has a big impact on a students interest in a
certain subject. They observed that the teachers who also
show interest in the course they teach have a bigger
attendance from students. They gave me some examples of
what being a good teacher means:
- to have an interactive course
- to come with prepared materials to class
- to try to understand his students and try to see the best in
them
- to reward his students when they come with a good idea
The teachers that give no interest in teaching their subject
have a low attendance rate, sometimes close to 0. As an
example, we can talk about the students from Applied
Modern Languages Faculties. One of the respondents told me
that they had a teacher that was always late to classes and
after she came, she did no attendance list and she did not
reward the students for having an active participation during
the course. So this pushed them to skip that class and there
were times when the classroom was empty.
Effect of absenteeism
I wanted to find out whether students believed absenteeism
affects them in a negative way or it has no influence in their
lifes. 50% of the respondents stated that missing classes can
make your job harder in school, while the other half believed
they could recover the information they lost on the go.
Skills
9 out of 12 students told me they are going to university
because this represents a chance for them to develop skills

Burnaz Stefania Gabriela group 943

for free. The skills mentioned included: teamwork, creativity,

critical thinking and working under pressure. One of the
respondents said: I am currently unemployed. I have been
thinking about getting a job, but I think going to university is
like a job for students. You get to develop the same skills.
The only difference is that in university, you will not lose
your job if you discover you are not good for a certain skill.
You are allowed to make mistakes.
The other quarter of respondents believe that its better to
develop their skills by getting a job because they will also
get paid for it.

8.Discussions and conclusions

The aim of this research was to find out the reasons of
absenteeism and some solutions from the point of view of
students. This paper showed that the main reason of
absenteeism is the way in which teachers organize their
courses. 3 out of 12 interviewed students were employed
and what is interesting is that, when asked whether the job
prevents them from going to courses, none of them
responded affirmative. One of the respondents said: I went
to this university because I chose it. Is what I liked best.
University is not somewhere you go because you have to, its
a place you go because you want to develop yourself and
your skills. But honestly, if the teacher doesnt show me that
she likes the subject she is teaching, how can I be interested
in learning it?
Last but not least, the students interviewed were asked to
give me some solutions (from their point of view) that would
decrease the rate of absenteeism and this is what they came
with:
- Rewarding students for coming to school

Burnaz Stefania Gabriela group 943

- Discussing materials that are interesting both for the

student and the teacher
- Giving real life examples when explaining concepts
- Develop the educational environment
- Creating a more friendly relation between students and
teachers