Determinants of Student Dropouts: A Case Study of Business Students

Abstract

This study attempts to explore the reasons behind students’ dropouts from higher education business schools. For this purpose, data about 1200 students over a period of one year is collected and analyzed from a leading business school in Peshawar. Determinants of dropouts are extracted from the literature and are tested for their association with the dropout decision by the students. Findings of the study are partially aligned with the literature and prove a significant relationship between gender, the type of school attended, students’ performance at the SSC and HSSC levels, and major subjects studied at the HSSC level with the incidence of students’ dropout from the business school; whereas age, father income, and hometown has shown no relationship with the students’ dropout from the business school.