Factors Influencing Student Absenteeism in the University

Student absenteeism is a common problem faced by Mathematics' lecturers in the university. The absenteeism among university student can lead to negative effect such as student's academic performance and many social problems. This study was carried out with the intention of determining the factors that influence absenteeism among students who enrolled in Calculus courses for engineering major. The study was conducted for diploma student in Universiti Teknologi MARA, Pulau Pinang branch. A survey questionnaire was assigned to a sample of 140 students who enrolled in Calculus I and Calculus II courses. These courses are known to have high percentage of failures among the engineering students. The questionnaire was analysed using statistical analysis. The domains of the questionnaire are absenteeism, electronic media factor, family factor, class climate factor, student attitude factor, peer factor and student activity factor. The findings of this study showed that there was a significant relationship between student's attitude factor (r = 0.616), student activity (r = 0.392) and family factor (r = 0.323) towards absenteeism. Based on the regression analysis, student attitude factor was the most dominant factor that influenced student's absenteeism. It is hoped the outcome of this study will benefits the university and reduces the percentage of student's absenteeism.