School absenteeism, emotional engagement and school organisation: An international comparative approach

This article aims to provide knowledge on the effects of the social composition of schools and the mediating effect of emotional engagement on school absenteeism, from a comparative perspective and using a multilevel methodology. The comparative dimension of the analyses allows us to study whether there is a school effect on absenteeism and whether this differs according to organisational structures. For this purpose, three cities with three different models were considered. Data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY) were used. Data were collected in three cities Barcelona (Spain), Ghent (Belgium) and Bergen (Norway), with a total sample of N = 6557 pupils in 82 schools. The results show, first, that absenteeism varies between cities and schools according to the model of school organisation. They also revealed the importance of instrumental and expressive student identification as prevention of absenteeism at the individual level. Finally, results reported that a high emotional engagement of pupils can contribute to reducing the effect of the social composition of the school on absenteeism.