Rosana Allado Far Eastern University

Marvie Yvonne Bencalo Institute of Education

Kimberly Rivera Educational Research (Ed14N)

Paul Anthony Sabado Prof. Freddie Quinito

Studying the Causes of Academic Failure

“Failure is an important and personal event in the life of a student” (Gracia & Jenkins, 2002).

Failure happens in almost every aspect of our lives and one of the most common places where it occurs

is in educational institutions, the failure which is called as academic failure. “Academic failure, according

to Gracia and Jenkins, (2002) “creates a major financial and emotional burden for students as they

struggle to come to terms with failure in both a personal and economic sense.” But that is not all; it is

also crucial for the evaluation of the higher education institutions where the students are in, because

their failure would reflect on its performance indicators which are degree results and retention rates

(Gracia & Jenkins, 2001). Academic failure is also a subject of serious concern for stakeholders in

education because it points out to “wastage of the enormous resources expended in the system and

poses some threats to the future educational development of students” (Ojo & Owoyele, 2011). That’s

why academic success, on the other hand, is essential for students, teachers and higher education

institutions, in which they strive to learn (Gracia & Jenkins, 2002). A student’s acceptance in a higher

education institution implies an unstated expectation that this student will manage to succeed in

finishing the course that he/she was allowed to enroll (Fraser & Killen, 2003). These statements basically

point out on why a study on the causes of academic failure is important.

Knowledge about the causes of failure is important for effective teaching and school

management, improving the understanding regarding the students’ perception on these causes and its

sources can lead to achieving this said knowledge (Fonseca & Conboy, 2006). Ojo and Owoyele (2011)

said that, “Students are known to attribute academic failure to several factors.” Le Foll and Rascle stated

Rosana Allado Far Eastern University

Marvie Yvonne Bencalo Institute of Education

Kimberly Rivera Educational Research (Ed14N)

Paul Anthony Sabado Prof. Freddie Quinito

that since the intellectual ability of the students vary, it is possible that their “causal attributions and

affective reactions to academic achievement” will also vary (as cited in Ojo & Owoyele, 2011). A full

understanding of the students’ perception and reaction to failure could determine the kind and

characteristics of the help-approach that these students must get (Ojo & Owoyele, 2011).

There are many factors to consider on a student’s failure and it can be categorized as external or

internal. External factors are considered more determinants than internal factors. Based on the

investigation at the College of Applied Studies and Community Service in KSA, students perceived that

the causes of their failure were involuntary choice of their courses, lack of skills, distance of school,

transportation as well as boring professors. In addition, Kyoshaba (2009) mentioned in his studies that

parents’ social economic status and former school background also affect the academic performance of

the student. It is important to know the economic status of the parents because it will affect the

academic performance of the students. Well, if the student is from a high social economic background,

he/she might do well in his/her academic performance, or better than those who belong to a lower

economic status. It’s not only the economic status of the parents that matters but also the bonding in

the family environment. With accordance to the study of Bernard (as cited in Chawla, 2006) stating that

family environment is significantly related to academic achievement because of the values that the child

inherits from the family are seen when they perform inside the classroom. Values like expressiveness,

independence, recreational orientation, caring, are manifested by their parents and their children which

resulted to children with a strong bond with their family and the nature in which the child was raised

have more active at school rather than those who have weak family bond and a different way of raising

them affected most of their attitude. Kyoshaba (2009) also said that the background of the former

Rosana Allado Far Eastern University

Marvie Yvonne Bencalo Institute of Education

Kimberly Rivera Educational Research (Ed14N)

Paul Anthony Sabado Prof. Freddie Quinito

school is also in relation to the student’s academic performance, whether the student came from a high-

class school, or standard, or in low-class schools. If students are from high class schools, then, he/she

would probably have a high academic performance. It is perceived that most students who were from

these schools have better performance in the class since they have more experiential learning that they

can integrate as they step higher in the level of education.

Moreover, the result of the study by Fonseca and Conboy (2006), teacher’s quality of teaching is

also one of the causes of failure. If the teacher does not execute proper techniques in educating a

learner, and does not consider understanding the learner’s needs, it may result to low achievement of

academic performance. It was also mentioned by Fonseca and Conboy (2006) that the academic content

is related to the difficulty of the student that may lead to failure.

On the other hand, when talking about internal factors causing failure, Herman et al. (2008)

conducted a study about how depression affects academic competence. By conducting the said

research, they discovered that academic competence mediates the effect on depressive symptoms and

that the path coefficients were notably larger for girls (inattention, social problems, and academic

performances) thus had a statistically stronger effect of low academic competence on the perceptions of

control for girls because depression drives more impact to them than that of boys.

Another study by Conboy and Fonseca (2009) talked about internal factors, according to them,

every student has goals and that is to achieve good grades. However, if lack of motivation, it is hard to

achieve the goal. The components of emotional and motivational goals are related to the cognitive

components that affect learning, as well as, to continue learning. In the study Secondary Student

Rosana Allado Far Eastern University

Marvie Yvonne Bencalo Institute of Education

Kimberly Rivera Educational Research (Ed14N)

Paul Anthony Sabado Prof. Freddie Quinito

Perceptions of Factors Effecting Failure in Science, students’ greater achievement depends on how

motivated they are. If the student enjoys learning, success will be achieved. On the other hand, if the

student perceives learning as difficult and learning purposes is not for his own intention, lower

achievement is associated which means lack of motivation in spite of the presence of academic goal.

The factors mentioned above are just overviews of the many factors surrounding the causes of

academic failure. Despite these findings further researches should be made and continually be made in

order to really understand the causes of academic failure. Studies regarding the causes of failure would

help not only the student but everyone involved in the learning process of a student.

Education is very important in every individual especially in achieving someone's success.

However, if neglected during the time of learning, the possible outcome is failure that leads the

individual to discontinue targeting his goals.

Rosana Allado Far Eastern University

Marvie Yvonne Bencalo Institute of Education

Kimberly Rivera Educational Research (Ed14N)

Paul Anthony Sabado Prof. Freddie Quinito

References:

Chawla, A. (2012). The Relationship Between Family Environment and Academic Achievement. Indian Streams Research Journal, 1(XII). retrieved 2012, from http://www.isrj.net/publishArticles/475.pdf

Gracia, L. & Jenkins, E. (2002). An Exploration of Student Failure on an Undergraduate Accounting Programme of Study . Accounting Education, 11(1). retrieved 2012, from https://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unisa.ac.za%2Fcontents%2Ffaculties%2Fservice_dept%2Fbld%2Fdocs%2FGracia%2520-%2520an%2520exploration.pdf&ei=1dYsUZfZAu6YiAf9qoDQDA&usg=AFQjCNGWe8S7bB3A-2wCsHwBHxv86DGVnA&sig2=fMiNGrYaHlsbeQ3QrBIrmg&bvm=bv.42965579,d.aGc

Fonseca, J. M. B & Conboy, J.E. (2006). Secondary Student Perceptions of Factors Affecting Failure in Science in Portugal. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 2(2). retrieved 2012, from www.ejmste.com

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Herman, K. C. , Reinke W. M., Lambert, S.F., & Ialongo, N.S. (2008). Low Academic Competence in First Grade as a Risk Factor for Depressive Cognitions and Symptoms in Middle School . Journal of Conseling Psychology, 55(3). retrieved 2012, from https://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apa.org%2Fpubs%2Fjournals%2Freleases%2Fcou553400.pdf&ei=89QsUeSuEseSiAeXz4HAAg&usg=AFQjCNHPQ9nGytdz2OHCsDJi-x6G7p2j4A&sig2=xiQnzweUR6nUVtfcdLoVlw&bvm=bv.42965579,d.aGc

Kyobashaba, M. (2005). Factors Affecting Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students at Uganda Christian University (Masteral dissertation, Makerere University, 2009)retrieved 2012, from http://news.mak.ac.ug/documents/Makfiles/theses/Kyoshaba%20Martha.pdf

Ojo, A. & Owoyele, J.W. (2011). Causal Attributions and Affective Reactions to Academic Failure Among Undergraduates In the Nigerian Premier University of Education . European Journal of Scientific

Rosana Allado Far Eastern University

Marvie Yvonne Bencalo Institute of Education

Kimberly Rivera Educational Research (Ed14N)

Paul Anthony Sabado Prof. Freddie Quinito

Research, 52(3). retrieved 2012, from http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.htm

Omar, A & Alrubayea, A. (2012). Investigating Student Academic Failure At the College of Applied Studies And Community Services (CASCS). The 2012 Orlando International Academic Conference. retrieved 2012, from http://attachment.fbsbx.com/file_download.php?id=446352552093697&eid=ASu6YlKQtPhoSB7BI7XWCug_kdeokUG_Y7zD14G-toibme5jMR4RDJCR0Ifvm1FP0t0&inline=1&ext=1361892262&hash=ASu3Cg1oEiDzle1k

Wimhurst, K. & Wortley, R. (2004). Academic Success and Failure: Characteristics and Broader Implications for Research in High Ed. ETL Conference, 2004, Logan Campus, Griffith University. retrieved 2012, from https://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww98.griffith.edu.au%2Fdspace%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10072%2F2457%2F30422_1.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1&ei=PtgsUY-_Hc6UiQfUvoHYDQ&usg=AFQjCNGUxSCjtqggxlt7ekW9rkj3Dm01Kw&sig2=Ke99C4f4c8W0UplAYOWCew&bvm=bv.42965579,d.aGc