A Study On Factors Affecting Frequency Of Absenteeism Among Students In UiTM

Alor Gajah Campus Melaka

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Project Team

1. Project Leader Faculty

2. Member Faculty

3. Member Faculty

4. Member Faculty

5. Member Faculty

Nasir Nordin Management and Business

Rozalli Hashim Admin & law

Azizah Dolah Accountancy

Asmah Zainuddin Management and Business

Aida Azlina Mohd Bee Language Centre

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T A B L E OF C O N T E N T S

Acknowledgement

List of Tables

Abstract 1

1. Introduction 2-3

2. Problem Understudy 4-8

3. Research Question 9

4. Research Objectives 10

5. Methodology 11

6. Hypotheses 12

7. Findings 13

8. Reasons for Student Absence 14

8.1 Gender 14 8.2 Commuting 15-16 8.3 Time-table 16-17 8.4 Courses Attended 17-18 8.5 Assignments and Tests 18-19 8.6 Extra-curricular Activities 19-20 8.7 Health 20-21 8.8 Social Influence 21-22 8.9 Academic Performance 22

9. Conclusion 23-26

Work Cited 27-29

Tables 30-33

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List of Tables

Table 1 Frequency of respondents

Table 2 Frequency of lectures or tutorials missed throughout last semester

Table 3 Reasons for absenteeism

Table 4 Observed and expected frequencies for all significant variables

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A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the beneficent. All praise to Allah, the Almighty

and salawat and salam to Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), his family and companions (r.a.),

Alhamdulillah by the will of Allah, we are able to complete this research paper.

Our sincere thanks and gratitude is extended to Prof. Dr. Haji Mohd Tahir Haji Abdul

Hamid, Provost, UiTM, Melaka Branch for initiating us to proceed with this research and

Bureau Research Center for their grant and encouragement.

Our greatest appreciation is also due to our family and friends for their prayers,

encouragement and love.

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A Study on Factors Affecting Frequency of Absenteeism among Students in UiTM Alor Gajah Campus

By Rozalli Hashim, Asmah Zainuddin, Azizah Dolah, Aida Azlina Mohd. Bee, and Nasir Nordin l, UiTM Alor Gajah. April, 2002.

Abstract

This study looks at factors that influence student frequency of absenteeism in a university setting. Twenty variables categorized into nine groups are examined, namely; gender, commuting, time­table, courses attended, assignments and tests, extra-curricular activities, health, social influence and academic performance. Most of the variables are significant to frequency of absenteeism. The empirical results indicate that absenteeism is a phenomenon that is controllable through sound policies and support system. The result also shows that besides students' own attitude, the administration, lecturers, family and the community have important roles to play in order to encourage students to classes. While disciplinary measures are still relevant, proactive intervention by lecturers and administrators can reduce the rate of class absenteeism.

Key words: absenteeism, frequency of absenteeism

1 The authors wish to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr Arshad Hashim, Assoc. Prof. Dr Halim Mohd Noor (Head of UiTM Alor Gajah's Research and Consultancy Unit) and En. Ismadi Ismail for their kind assistance. This study is funded by allocations from the Research and Consultancy Unit.

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1. Introduction

Student absenteeism to lectures and tutorials has become one of the greatest

encumbrances of college success. It is a matter of concern because it can lead to

insufficient learning on the part of those absent and a degree of agitation on the conduct

of the classes for those who are present (Longhurst, 1999). Absenteeism has become a

general problem to universities and colleges (FEFC, 1997). It refers to the conduct of

students not attending scheduled meetings in terms of classes, lectures, tutorials,

workshops or seminars without prior permission from the faculty or against default

college policy on absenteeism. The idea of dissemination of knowledge and information

from the teacher in a formal meeting is that students be able to present and acquire them

in a lively environment. It would be very difficult to gain knowledge only through

copying notes taken by a classmate because the extent of knowledge and know how will

undesirably be limited to what one can make out of the copied notes.

Student nonattendance is a problem that extends much further than the university.

It affects the student, the family, and the community. In an environment of stiff

competition for jobs, graduates should possess high integrity and capabilities to win

themselves a secured career. Unfortunately, negative attitude associated with truancy has

become the most powerful predictor of delinquency and negligence among those students

(DeKalb, 1999). As such, absenteeism is detrimental to students' achievement,

promotion, graduation, self-esteem, and employment potential.

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A number of studies have emphasized on the reasons behind students being absent

from their classes. Unfortunately, not many have really focused on absenteeism at the

college or university level. Longhurst (1999) claims that studies such as the one

conducted by Adjei Barwuah and Phill Walkley (1997) were based on general

impressions of college management rather than any systematic gathering of data from

actual students. For this reason, Longhurst (1999) has carried out his own study based on

data congregated from students in a further education college. It is hoped that through

real studies and analysis of events and information from the students, we are able to find

solutions to solve this major hindrance to academic excellence among students in

universities. The first step to getting the root of absenteeism is dedicating a reasonable

amount of time to seriously study the situation. After careful analysis, the causes of

absenteeism are often self-evident (Applesforhealth.com, 2000).

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2. Problem Understudy

Every level o f educational institutions is expressing concern over the rate of

absenteeism. It started perhaps as early as formal classroom education is known. An

interesting question to answer is that, is it a common human trait that exist ubiquitously?

While the answers to this question remain trivial among educators, absenteeism today has

also become a serious matter at the workplace. Evidence from across the public sector in

the United Kingdom claims that each employee is absent from work, on average, for 10.2

days a year with illness as the major contributing factor (Caines, 1999). However, the

figure is more serious in schools and universities. For example, the FEFC Inspection

Report for Loughborough College based on a census conducted in 1996 has found out

that absenteeism level was at 20% in the faculty of technology, 27% in the faculty of

business services and 28.5% in the faculty of community and general education

(Longhurst, 1999). Taking 20% as a base figure, if there is fifteen weeks in an academic

semester with a course meeting twice a week, the number of meetings missed is

equivalent to three weeks or six meetings for a particular course! Thus, this should call

on all colleges and universities to determine factors that contribute to the high degree of

absenteeism among students in the higher learning.

Evans and Palmer (1997) have attempted to explain these factors scientifically.

They have identified four [approaches to study the] causes of absence; namely, (1) single-

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factor explanations of absence, (2) integrated multiple-characteristics on absence, (3) the

influence of the organizational context, and (4) the influence of external factors on

absence. Although their study was mainly aimed at absenteeism in the industry, the same

can be used as an approach to investigate the factors that contribute to college or

university absenteeism among students. The single-factor explanations of absence refer

to a very significant contributor, which may evolve from different scenarios. This

approach may not be suitable in studying student-related absenteeism because each factor

may have a direct influence individually and at the same time may be inter-related with

other variables. For this reason, the second approach to the study of the causes of

absence might be more favorable. The influence of the organizational context will also

be utilized in this study to understand the events and procedures that contribute to

absenteeism. The fourth contributor namely, the influence of external factors will also be

used to understand the effects of such factors to the rate of absenteeism among students.

A survey on unscheduled absence conducted by CCH Inc. indicates that stress is

responsible for nearly a fifth of all no-shows, especially in relation to personal illness and

family issues (Applesforhealth.com, 1999). As a student, stress is a common

phenomenon, be it positive stress or negative stress. However, the ability among students

to cope with their stressful environment and moment is very important in order to

maintain their motivation and articulation. Personal illness was found to be the most

common reason for absence (Longhurst, 1999). In a study carried out by Pannger

(1983), illness was found to be positively correlated with absenteeism for both genders

but slightly higher in males. The same result was also found in a study conducted by

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Caines (1999). There were also tendencies for students to pretend that they are ill just to

skip classes. Students who are less attached to their studies role are more likely to stay

away from classes if they suffer from a minor ailment. Further more, they stay away

longer than other students who are ill (Longhurst, 1999).

The more educated persons are less likely to be absent because they value

education highly and attending classes is a very important routine for them (Bridges and

Mumford, 2000). However, there are other studies, which have proven that educational

achievement has insignificant effect on absenteeism especially among females (Allen,

1981; Wilson and Peel, 1981; and Vistnes, 1997). In addition, female students are said

to admire self-achievement values more than do male students (Selamah and Ruzita,

1999). As such, more female students are being seen in classes than male students.

According to DeKalb (1999), irrelevant courses and bad relationship with

teachers were found to be the major factors in students' decision to skip classes. Of

course, irrelevant courses which must be taken but do not contribute to the quest of

getting a diploma will be valued very low by students. No doubt that it will push the rate

of absenteeism even higher. On the contrary, Longhurst (1999) discovered that a dislike

of certain subjects and teachers were among the least frequently mentioned reasons for

absence.

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Other determinants of absenteeism that are worth to be mentioned here are class

time-table, transport, weather, peer influence and family obligations (Longhurst, 1999;

DeKalb, 1999).

The subjects were students of Universiti Teknologi MARA (formerly known as

Institut Teknologi M A R A ) at Alor Gajah Campus in Melaka. The university was first

established in 1956 as an experimental training center directed at educating rural

Bumiputera youths in commerce and cottage industries. Referred to as the Training

Division of the Rural Industrial Development Authority (R1DA), its establishment was

part of the governmental policy to offer academic opportunities to the rural Bumiputera

population. This is to enable the Bumiputera to compete in the society especially in the

area of business and technology.

However, these golden opportunities have been slowly ruined by the facts that

many UiTM students nowadays, fail to perform in their studies and most of them are not

able to graduate in the stipulated time period. One of the possible reasons is that they

have ineffective and quality time in class with their lecturers. The university's

regulation pertaining attendance is very clear. No one student can be allowed to take a

particular examination if he/she did not achieve a minimum of 70% class attendance

(UiTM, 2000). Despite many motivational and learning skills programs conducted for

the students, the percentage of absenteeism is increasing from semester to semester.

Disciplinary actions taken on students for 1999 numbered 10 cases, in 2000 it amounted

to 41 cases and for the year 2001, 101 cases. This shows that the number of absenteeism

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in the university keeps on increasing. Student absenteeism seems to be an unending

problem. Every semester lecturers talk about the same thing. Most lecturers frequently

experienced low levels of students' attendance, especially for the 8.00 o'clock classes in

the morning. The Disciplinary Action Report prepared by the Students Affairs Division

also shows that absenteeism is definitely the popular case being reported. As such, this

study is to investigate some of the reasons that cause truancy.

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3. Research Questions

3.1 Do students illness effect the frequency of absenteeism in college and university?

3.2 Does gender matter in determining frequency of absenteeism among students?

3.3 Does the disposition towards a particular course or lecturer effect the frequency of

absenteeism?

3.4 Does peer influence and family obligations play important roles in cutting classes

among college students?

3.5 Does class time-table matter and is the frequency of absenteeism most prevalent

in the morning or afternoon classes?

3.6 What is the relationship between transportation and weather to the rate of

attendance among students?

3.7 Does academic achievement have direct relationship with frequency of

absenteeism?

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4. Research Objectives

4.1 To identify the extent of absenteeism among college students that are perpetuated

by illnesses.

4.2 To examine the relationship between genders and frequency of absenteeism

4.3 To investigate the trend of absenteeism among college students based on their

dislike of certain courses or lecturers.

4.4 To justify peer influence and family obligations as contributing factors in

determining the frequency of absenteeism among students

4.5 To verify whetheT class timetable really affects the rate of class attendance and to

examine differences in effect between morning classes and afternoon classes.

4.6 To give explanation for the relationship between transportation and weather to

frequency of attendance among students.

4.7 To study whether academic achievement influences frequency of absenteeism.

4.8 To make suggestions and recommendations as to what can be done to enhance

student attendance to classes.

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5. Methodology

This study is carried out based on primary data, which was collected from a 42-

question questionnaires that were distributed randomly to students of Universiti

Teknologi MARA, Alor Gajah Campus in the month of October 2000. A total of 297

samples were gathered from students mainly of the diploma programs viz. DIA, DP A,

DBS, and DIB ranging from semester three to six. Table 1 shows the responds rate from

the respective program. The questionnaire was in Bahasa Malaysia, the national

language. The measurement of "values" is based on Longhurst (1999). Except for

cumulative grade point average (CGPA), the answers to the questions are either

dichotomous (0,1) or ordinal (following the Likert scale).

Chi square statistics for categorical data analysis is used throughout the study.

The dependent variable, Frequency of Absenteeism which carries the value from 0 (no

absenteeism) to 7 (times absent) was respecified into three categories, 0 (no absenteeism)

and I absenteeism into 1; 2 times to 4 times into 2, and 5 times and above into 3. This

category follows a simple formula:

/ semester = 14 weeks of classes

Students must have attended a total of 70% of classes'semester

Therefore, 30% absenteeism = 4.5 weeks (or times)

Rounded to one decimal point = 5 weeks (or times)

So, 5 times is the cut-off value for serious absenteeism.

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6. Hypotheses

H1. Students who are sick have more tendencies to be absent than those who are healthy.

H2: There is no difference in gender among students for frequency of absenteeism.

H3: Students who dislike a particular course or lecturers are more inclined to skip classes

than those who have no dislikes of courses or lecturers.

H4: Students who are more committed to their peers and family problems are more

inclined to miss classes.

H5: Students who have classes at 8.00 a.m. are likely to be absent than those whose

classes are scheduled at later hours.

H6: Transportation and weather do not increase the frequency of absenteeism among

students.

H7: Educational achievement is not related to frequency of absenteeism.

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7. Findings

As indicated in Table 2, clearly indicates that there are a very low percentage of

students who never missed their classes throughout a semester (2.4%). To any institution

of higher learning, this figure is o f course quite alarming. The common understanding

among students that action against them will only be taken if they miss their classes more

than three times in a row could have encouraged students to skip classes at least not more

than three times. In addition, the newly enforced regulation of barring students from

taking their final examination if their total attendance for a given course is less than 70%

could also contribute to this situation. Skipping classes has become a common

phenomenon that 64.65% responded that they missed classes three times or less. As

expected, the percentage drops for absenteeism that is more than three times.

It is interesting to learn about the reasons behind students skipping their classes,

especially at the college level where students are normally assumed to be more matured

and independent. The reasons are depicted in Table 3. Cross-tabulation tables are

depicted in Table 4.

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8. Reasons for Student Absence

Following Evans and Palmer's (1997) second approach, we include twenty

variables as integrated multiple-characteristics on absence. These variables are grouped

into nine classifications namely, gender, commuting; timetable; courses attended;

assignments and tests; extra-curricular activities, health, social influence and academic

performance. The influence of organizational context (the third approach) is seen in the

timetable and assignments and tests variable. The last approach namely influence of

external factors include family problems and peer (internal and external) influence.

8.1 Gender

The variable Gender is one of the largest and most significant of the coefficients

associated with frequency of absenteeism (Cramer's V = 0.273 at P < 0.001). While the

proportion of female students is higher in the categories of absenteeism below three

times, male students are more susceptible to skip classes five times and above. It is not

the intention of the study to identify reason(s) behind this phenomenon but the result

definitely concurs to the literature. The null hypothesis is rejected. Female students tend

to be more attentive in building an academic culture of responsiveness to classes.

Perhaps this is due to the increased number of quality female students enrolled in public

institutions of higher learning. According to Rizuan (2001), new female students

enrolled to these institutions increased tremendously from 34.7% (1976-1980) to 42-9%

(1986-1990) and to 52.7% at the end of the millenium.

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8.2 Commuting

The independent variable, Transportation clearly indicates that there is a

moderately strong relationship between the variable and frequency of absenteeism

(Cramer's V = 0.219 at P < 0.001). Even though the location of student residency is in

walking distance to the Academic Building where classes are being held, it seems that

transport plays an important role for them to attend classes. Indeed, it is not quite

surprising because the average distance of student residential colleges is about 300 meters

from the main campus. In addition, majority of students who live off-campus do not own

any kinds of transportation. As such, they depend solely on public transportation or

resort to walking. Transportation problem will arise when students have to attend classes

especially during rainy season, in the afternoon classes after they have had their lunch at

the residential colleges, and when they are ill.

Since the increase in number of student enrollment at this campus, various

locations off the main Academic Building have been identified as suitable venues for

classes and makeshift classes. This is because the number of classes at the building can

no longer accommodate all students during peak lecture hours. As such, some groups of

students have to commute from one place to another place during this time. For example,

some rooms at the student residential colleges have been converted into classrooms.

These rooms are all scheduled for classes during peak hours. The students who are

scheduled to these rooms will have to walk quite a distance away and return to the

Academic Building for other classes. This would definitely influence the absenteeism rate

among those groups.

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In conjunction with the transportation problem is weather or more precisely rainy

days. This study indicates a highly significant correlation between rainy days and

frequency of absenteeism. Perhaps students are held back during this moment for the

after effect of walking in the rain. It is very cumbersome to be in class when one is

soaking wet. In addition to this, possibly students are not well prepared with logistics to

walk or travel in the rain. This is absolutely so given the distance from residential

colleges to the Academic Building which is exposed to not only rains but also lightning

and thunderstorms. The null hypothesis is rejected.

8.3 Time-table

Another focus of interest in this study is to see whether class timetable affects the

frequency of absenteeism. Students were asked three related questions; if class timetable

in general, classes scheduled at 8.00 a.m. and classes scheduled in the afternoon effect the

frequency of absenteeism. All three have significant correlation coefficients with Classes

at 8.00 a.m.(Cramer's V = 0.322 at P < 0.001) ranked the highest in strength or

substantial correlation value, followed by Afternoon Classes (Cramer's V = 0.209 at P

0.001) and Class Time-table (Cramer's V = 0.181 at P 0.001) in general with

moderate correlation value (Firestone, 2001). The null hypothesis is rejected in favor of

the alternative.

While the study did not attempt to seek reasons behind difficulties to attend 8.00

a.m. classes, perhaps it is now quite obvious that over the years students are just play in

lazy to rush for morning classes especially the "Monday Blues". As have been mentioned

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before, students have to commute between the academic premises and residential colleges

for classes, food and rest. During lunch hour, they will have to get back to the colleges

for their lunch and sometimes have a few moments of what before classes. During this

time, they ought to be resting in their respective rooms or taking a short nap. The result

concurs with the expected outcome that they would have problems to go back to the

classes especially after having good lunch and the rest.

As a result of the increased student population over the past years and the almost

stagnant increase in the number of classrooms, class timetable is forced to be "less

flexible". The timetable committee which is responsible to schedule classes have to

resort to giving students 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. classes almost everyday. In addition, the

lunch hour has also been re-defined in order to get as many slots for classes as possible.

There are instances when students have "marathon" classes of up to four hours. This new

scenario perhaps contributes to the absenteeism as depicted by the variable, Class Time­

table.

BA Courses Attended

We find that students do not skip classes because they dislike the course(s) that

they have registered for the semester. This result is insignificant perhaps due to the

nature of courses that are pre-determined for the students. All students apparently

understand that they have to ultimately complete all required and elective courses during

their academic stay at the university. Good students will normally follow the sequence of

courses prescribed by the program and faculty administration. On the other hand,

students who failed a particular course will be advised to refer the course at a convenient

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time. Perhaps due to these reasons, students do not have grievances over the subjects or

courses that they have registered.

On the contrary, lecturers play a very crucial role in getting students to classes.

The value of Cramer's V = 0.156 is significant at P < 0.027 which suggests a moderately

strong correlation of Dislike Lecturers and frequency of absenteeism. Of course, one

cannot readily jump into conclusion by saying that those lecturers who are "hated" by

students as bad lecturers. However, we used dichotomous scale (0,1), perhaps there are

some weaknesses to measure such attributes by such scale. There are more to this

phenomenon than what is being said. Again, it is beyond this study to determine the

reasons for disliking lecturers among students. Anyway, the result should be a wake-up

call to all lecturers. Although the courses taught by the lecturers are found not to be the

reason for skipping classes, lecturers do. While students do not normally expose their

disfavor to any particular lecturers, the personality and ability of a lecturer seem to be

factors that cannot be denied. A further study need to address this issue and seek the

qualities of lecturers that are admired by students or that could motivate students not to

be absent from classes.

8.5 Assignments and Tests

Incomplete tutorials or assignments is significant, where V = 0.161 at P < 0.05.

In addition, incomplete presentation or assignment also affect the tendency of skipping

classes among students. Although the Cramer's V value is 0.161 and significant at P <

0.061. Tutorials and other written assignments are of course important as contributors to

the overall class-work percentage. It is not surprising that incomplete assignment of this

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nature actually "prohibits" students from attending classes. Perhaps there is always

leeway from the lecturers or the students to get the assignment completed by some other

means or the students will simply forgo some classes in order to gain grades from the

others. However, presentation is another story. Students will normally be graded based

on their live presentation. There will not be any other alternatives. In it, students will

have to prepare their presentation with all means, skipping other classes as an option

The correlation coefficient of Preparation for Upcoming Tesl(s) is V = 0.210 and

frequency of absenteeism is moderately high (P < 0.001). In general, students value class

tests highly in this university. Normally, proportion of test scores to the overall class-

work percentage is high (although it varies from one course to the other). Due to this

fact, students perhaps do not feel guilty about skipping classes and using those moments

to prepare themselves for some upcoming tests, even in another class. This could also

explain the high percentage of students who skip classes up to three times in a semester.

The null hypothesis is rejected in favor of the alternative.

8.6 Extra-curricular Activities

College Activities refer activities carried out by students such as hostel 's annual

gathering, co- curriculum, games and sports. Usually students have to attend this

activities for once in a week.

College Activities is found to be where Cramer's V = 0.125 insignificant to

frequency of absenteeism. The result shows that Co-curriculum is slightly significant.

Perhaps there is a tendency for students to be absent from classes to prepare themselves

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