The Relation between Absences and Grades: A Statistical Analysis

The paper investigates the relation between absences and grades by employing statistical modelling and using data from a private hospitality school. The obtained parameters estimates verify the assumption that there exists an inverse relationship between absences and grades. It is shown that one unit increase in normalized absences leads to 0.814 units decrease in the average class grade. Further, a dynamic interaction between absences and grades is examined by means of a VAR model. No evidence that the links between absences and grades are propagated over time is found. The system has no memory: each term and / or course defines its own dynamics which is not spread over other terms and / or other courses.