Abstract:
Lecture non-attendance by university students is a major issue in many institutions of
higher learning globally. This study was conducted to determine the institutional-based
factors and student-centered factors that cause absenteeism among undergraduate
students in a public university in Kenya. This paper focuses on what we consider to be
one of the impacts of demographic changes in the university where we teach. We have
both witnessed chronic cases of absenteeism; an observation that informed this study. We
carried out the research with two groups of students from one teaching department in
June and October 2013. The June group comprised of 1styears (N=68) that were in their
second semester, and the October group comprised of 3rd years in their first semester
(N=84). The groups were purposively selected; the first years were relatively new to a
university environment whereas the 3rd years were considered to be 'at home ’. A self
administered questionnaire with open ended items was developed and administered to the
groups in their respective homogenous cohorts. Through the questionnaires we sought to
find out reasons why students in our university miss lectures. We also requested the
respondents to suggest measures that should be taken to curb absenteeism at the
university. Mixed method of data analysis was used Based on findings, we categorized
the students ’ responses on causes of absenteeism into two; institutional-basedfactors and
student-centered factors. The suggested solutions mainly focused on the actions to be
taken by the university. Given the current demographic trends in Kenyan universities, the
students raised critical issues that touch on quality of services, leadership and
management of university operations. The university needs to enact policies that monitor
and evaluate its core business.
