Factors Hindering Class Attendance: Views of University Accounting Students

This paper examines the factors that hinder university accounting students from attending classes. A survey instrument comprising of factors that impede class attendance was administered to the second, third and fourth year students doing accounting courses. Descriptive statistics were computed and Independent sample T-tests were performed to measure the variance in views among students from different years of study. The results suggest that studying for other tests, uploading of lecture materials to ICT platforms, failure to do the necessary reading in advance, working on the project which is due on the same day with a class, lack of proper time management and failure to properly allocate time to school activities are among the key factors responsible for absenteeism. Other hindrances to class attendance include having many lectures to attend in a day, transport problems to school, lack of personal motivation and time lag between classes. In addition, the results reveal that majority of respondents assess their class attendance to be satisfactory; and there is no evidence to indicate that course type, gender and accommodation status are among the causes of differences in class attendance. These results have implications to students, lecturers, tertiary institutions and sponsors who can devise means to mitigate class absenteeism.