Causal impact of absenteeism

There is discernible and growing evidence that learning is faster, measurably better and more productive in a classroom setting when a student attends classes regularly. Each student brings in his/her experience, expertise, strengths and unique learning styles to the class – thus a classroom environment has the potential to create positive externalities through which a student can gain substantially from the strengths of his/her peers. In spite of these avowed objectives and various attendance-monitoring mechanisms, students do remain absent from their classes for a variety of reasons. There are many measurable and non-measurable dimensions on which a student can miss out by not attending a university class; where students from various cultures, languages, and regions intermingle. One of those measurable effects is the academic performance.
The objective of the current study is to determine if there is any potential causal link between absenteeism (attendance) and academic performance. A quantile regression analysis on the performance and attendance data for the Quantitative modules in the undergraduate programme of a British University Business School in Dubai revealed that the impact of absenteeism on performance is not only negative but also greater for the lower performers than the higher performers. This means that low performers are worse affected by absenteeism as compared to the high performers.