Why do students miss classes?

Cuie Xu (School of Languages Cultures & Societies)

Project overview

My fellowship explores why students miss classes. Existing literature shows that absenteeism is statistically positively associated with poorer academic performance (Halpern 2007; Fay, Aguirre, & Gash 2013; Wongtrakul & Dangprapai 2020). Tackling non-attendance enhances students’ engagement with and their success in their studies, as well as their success in the future. This study aims to answer the following four research questions:

1) What factors are contributing to students’ non-attendance at the University of Leeds context and how?
2) Why are students not returning to class after absences?
3) What are the consequences of non-attendance at the University of Leeds context?
4) What can the schools and the university do to enhance students' engagement with their studies?

The research approach

This study will use a mixed methodology — a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative data captures the strength of each factor contributing to non-attendance, and the qualitative data captures the complexity behind students’ decisions on attendance.

If you would like to find out more about the project contact Cuie Xu

Each fellowship has a project sponsor that helps the fellows achieve impact across the institution. The sponsor for this fellowship is Chris Warrington

Project start date: September 2024