An analysis of student characteristics and behaviour in relation to absence from lectures

Concern has been expressed in the literature that student absenteeism from lectures is undesirable as it may have adverse consequences for academic performance. The aim of this study was to examine whether there are identifiable groups of low-attendance students who display characteristic behaviours that are more typical than any other group. Students within their second and subsequent years of study in business degrees were surveyed to self-report on their degree of lecture attendance. Questions were asked relating to both background and behavioural factors which could impinge on the amount of a student's lecture attendance. The combination and interaction of these were analysed to produce profiles of students classified as high or low attenders. The primary finding was that students who were habitually absent from lectures were different in type from those who were good attenders, and that they differed in regard to two fundamental predictors of lecture absence.