ABSENTEEISM IN THE SPANISH UNIVERSITY STUDENT POPULATION--A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

摘要

In this article we intend to account for the phenomenon of increasing absenteeism among university students in a Spanish public university. In a previous paper we found a strong relationship between the marks awarded at the end of the academic year and an indicator of class attendance. Our results are based on a questionnaire designed specifically for this purpose and filled by 1,193 students at the time of taking their final exam. Our statistical analysis shows that gender affects class attendance. Whether or not the student has to retake the final exam and whether or not he receives private tuition, at the so called “Academies”, are also elements explaining the missing of university classes. There appear to be interesting cross effects between these explaining factors and the levels of absenteeism. We identify the causes of this phenomenon and the policies that, according to the students, would act as incentives to class attendance.