An analysis of factors influencing the attendance of first year university students Michael Lang (Lecturer, Business Information Systems Group, National University of Ireland, Galway) Angela Joyce (Student Advisor, Faculty of Commerce, National University of Ireland, Galway) Frank Conaty (Lecturer, Dept of Accountancy & Finance, National University of Ireland, Galway) Brendan Kelly (Postgraduate, Dept of Accountancy & Finance, National University of Ireland, Galway) 1 Introduction For some time now, absenteeism from lectures has been recognised internationally as a concern (Rodgers, 2001; Romer, 1993; Wyatt, 1992). This paper contributes to the cumulative body of knowledge in this area by investigating the factors that influenced attendance at a first year Accounting class at National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway). Attendance data was gathered over a full academic year using sign-in sheets. Further information was gathered using a questionnaire, interviews, and secondary data sources. Our work differs from previous studies in that it groups students into three categories (good, moderate and poor attendees), thus allowing the factors affecting the attendance of each group to be examined separately. 2 Literature review Previous studies from the US (Devadoss & Foltz, 1996; Romer, 1993), Australia (Massingham & Herrington, 2006), Europe (Kirby & McElroy, 2003; Paisey & Paisey, 2004) and Asia (Lin & Chen, 2006) have found positive correlations between lecture attendance and examination grades. However, the extent to which attendance impacts academic performance is moderated by other variables such as academic ability (e.g. GPA score, entry points) and prior knowledge of a subject (Van Walbeek, 2004). Our literature review uncovered a number of factors which can potentially affect lecture attendance, classified here under the headings: unavoidable, individual, and course-related factors. 2.1 Unavoidable factors Of the various factors that may be regarded as being ‘unavoidable’, illness is the most frequently cited in the literature, though the extent to which it is a substantial issue varies from study to study (Brown, 2003; Kottasz, 2002; Massingham & Herrington, 2006; Paisey & Paisey, 2004). Family commitments (Hunter & Tetley, 1999; Wyatt, 1992) can also be a factor, as may the availability of transport (Kottasz, 2002; Morgan, 2001). 2.2 Personal factors ‘Personal’ factors are defined here as those which are essentially intrinsic to an individual student, though we acknowledge that some of these factors may not entirely be matters of choice and are subject to external influence. The main factors in this category are:  Interest in subject: Students’ level of interest in the subject being taught has been found to be a key variable affecting attendance. Dolnicar (2004) noted that if students find lectures interesting they are more likely to attend. Morgan (2001) found that interesting lectures had a positive effect on attendance while both Kossatz (2002) and Brown (2003) found that ‘boring’ lectures were off-putting to students.  Motivation: Morgan (2001) also dealt with the issue of student motivation. He found that students were not intrinsically motivated; rather they were extrinsically motivated by rewards or punishments. Van Blerkom’s (2001) study agreed with these conclusions, and he found that extrinsic rewards affect students’ attendance levels.  Influence of peers: Peer pressure can be an important factor. Morgan (2001) found that a significant number of business students would or would not attend lectures based on the actions of their peers. Hunter & Tetley (1999) reported similar findings. Hubbard (2007) found that a number of students attended lectures simply to catch up with friends, to find out what assignments/tests were coming up, or to help them identify what the lecturer believed to be important.  Social life: Morgan (2001) found that the effects of student social life can have a significant negative effect on attendance. 1