FACTORS INFLUENCING MALE DECISION

TO
PREMATURELY WITHDRAW
FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL:
A Grounded Theory Study of Riyadh

by

Mr. UnKnown

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Research Proposal – Mr. Unknown
Introduction

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the important and active countries in the

Middle East. In recent years, the Kingdom has become the focus of the regional

and international interest due to its role and impact on the regional and

international economy and regional conflicts. The main reasons for this role and

importance is that the Saudi Arabia is one of the largest oil producers in the

world. The second reason, the Kingdom is the place of the two Islamic Holy

cities, Mecca and Al-Medina.

The Kingdom started to build and develop its institutions relatively recently

compared with the developed countries and some of the regional countries. The

era of development started in 1913. The developments and the building took off

firstly with the discovery of the oil (exploration started in 1923) and the second

when the oil prices increased (from 1970 to 1990 the oil prices stayed above $40

a barrel. The last couple of year witnessed a rise in prices to $150 per barrel to a

level that made its revenue an essential tool for the developments and building

programmes of Saudi Arabia. Although, it is long time since discovery of the oil,

the Kingdom is still in the developing process of its infrastructure, education and

social welfare system. The development of infrastructure education, health and

social welfare systems have taken large part of the developing and building

process (in 2007 50000 million Saudi riyals). The Kingdom follows a five year

development plan and these sectors are the key priorities in these strategic

plans. Unfortunately, the education system is still underdeveloped. This is

mainly due to lack of human resources, i.e. educators and educationists

(Ministry of Education and Training, 2004).

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The kingdom has a three stage education system:

Table 1

Level Age Group

Elementary 7 – 12 years
Middle 13-15 years
Secondary 16-18 years

It is been reported that there are 18 million people living in Saudi Arabia out of

which 5 million are below 18 years old (Saudi Arabian Year Book 2008 &

Statistics of Education, Ministry of Education and Training 2008). The Kingdom

needs a well established system to provide education, employability skills to

these youngsters and create employment opportunities for these youngsters,

therefore the subject matter of this research is very important for the my

country.

On the other hand the developing economy of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is

heavily reliant on foreign workers (Ministry of Labour and manpower, 2008). At

present around 8 million people from around the world are working in the

kingdom Ministry of Labour and manpower, 2008). Most of these people are

highly skilled workers but in order to meet the requirements of self reliance and

create opportunities for its own people the state needs to equip its youngsters

with the knowledge to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Although the state is committed to providing world class education system which

is free at point of delivery to its youngsters still only 50% (Ministry of Education

and Training, 2008) students Join University or gain any professional

qualification. This dichotomy inspired me to study the phenomenon of “dropout

from state schools” and propose some policy initiative to help my nation. This

underachievement of young learners deprives the country from economic

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Research Proposal – Mr. Unknown
prosperity and gives rise to many social ills in the society (Boon, 2008). Failure

to complete high school is associated with a number of negative consequences:

• Reduced personal income and less tax revenues for governmental entities.

• Higher unemployment and increased welfare burden.

• Increased risk of incarceration.

• Lessened social growth and potential accompanied by a reduced sense of

control over one’s life. (Veale, 2002:1-2)

High school attainment (GCSE in UK and Middle school in Arab Gulf) is marked

as a milestone of individual attainment. Over a million of the students who enter

middle school each year fail to pass with their peers three years later (UNESCO,

2007). In Saudi Arabia middle school graduation was not considered a societal

norm when the economy was based on agriculture and manufacturing

(O'Sullivan 2003:59).But recent developments in the country and around the

world, e.g. emergence of Knowledge economies, made it impossible to survive

without having basic education i.e. at least Middle school in the Arab Gulf

countries (Goodwin 2001:6).

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Research Aims and Objectives

Research Aim

The main aim of this research is to investigate and analyse the internal (i.e.

teaching and learning) and external factors (Socio-economic and cultural) which

effects youngsters’ minds and make them to dropout before completing their

education at middle school.

Research Objectives

A set of objectives are drawn to achieve this research aims. These objectives

are summarised in the following:

1. To understand the young learners’ circumstances, mindsets, feelings and

consciousness that caused them to get on a path of dropping out.

2. Are there common themes that can be developed to categorise student

characteristics and behaviours related to the reasons why male students

drop out of high school in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

3. Study the dropouts phenomenon from young learners’ perspectives

4. What theory can be developed that relates the perceptions of students to

explain why male students drop out of high school in Riyadh, Saudi

Arabia?

5. Chalk out a plan to study the signs of drop out and develop a strategy to

engage disengaged youngsters.

Importance of the Research

Concern for school dropouts is not new. In the United States as early as 1872, a

paper entitled “The Early Withdrawal of Pupils from School: Its causes and Its

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Research Proposal – Mr. Unknown
Remedies” (Scheiber, 1968) was presented to the annual session of the National

Education Association. In the Western world (especially where there is no

compulsory school leaving age) students who dropout of school before

completing their secondary education have been a cause of concern among

educators, parents, and the community at large for a considerable time.

It is generally accepted that dropping out of school, without completing basic

education, has negative consequences for the individual and for society. The

drop out from education is not only a loss for the individual but it also brings

problem for the society and the effect the long term economic development and

growth of the country (Wolfe, et al., 2001 & Witte, 1997).

The issue of high school non-completion represents a growing concern for the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in general and Riyadh in particular. Riyadh being the

capital of the kingdom attracts people from all over the country for socio-

economic reasons (Leipold, 1981:125) and the young learners who decide to

leave education are a big drain on the national resources. Although there is no

source of data about dropout rate yet an alarming rate has been noted Riyadh

city’s dropout rates. During to my pilot study, before submitting my proposal for

scholarship, I made an attempt to calculate dropout rate by using number on

role data from primary schools and middle schools and high school.

Table 2

Year Dropout
rate
2000 50.02%
2001 48.45
2002 48.64%
2003 53.12%

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Research Proposal – Mr. Unknown
 2004 52.25%
2005 52.33%
2006 57.44%
2007 57.43%

Furthermore, although extensive research exists on the broad topic of school

dropouts, research specifically addressing the topic of male high school dropouts
is negligible in the literature. Some of the research focused on the themes
associated with high school non-completion and addressed males’ interactions
within and outside of the school environment (Alspaugh, 2000; Arrington, 2001;
Corbett, 2004; Morgan, 2001; Pajares, 2002; Radziwon, 2003; Scott, 2002).
These research studies identified the concerns related to male students and their
success in the school setting. [Recent studies have reflected the growing
concerns regarding boys and their emotional and social development (Farmer,
2001; Jozefowicz, 2002; Kutnick & Kington, 2005; Raikes & Thompson, 2006).]

Nonetheless, there is no scientific evidence of dropout rates in the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia. Though some International agency reports have reflected concerns
regarding boys underachievement, failure to complete schooling and higher
unemployment yet there is no scientific study available to identify the
factors/predictors which educationists can use to develop an early warning or
intervention system.

Therefore, the importance of the research can be summarised as:

1. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in the process of developing its institutions.

They are in needs for knowledge, information and data that can help the
authorities in their strategic plan. Initial literature review revealed that
there is a lack of knowledge and information towards phenomenon of drop
out. And there is no study to available to understand this phenomenon
from the stand point of a dropped out individual.
2. In 21 century, where knowledge is the real power, human resources are
as imported as any other resources for the economic development of the
country. Therefore, Saudi Arabia cannot ignore 50% of its youngsters who
are failing to achieve any valuable education and/or employability skills.

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Research Proposal – Mr. Unknown
 3. In a society where man is the main bread winner of the family the
phenomenon of drop out brings economic uncertainty and deprivation not
only for one individual but for a family as whole, which leads to many
socio economic ills. This study as aimed to recommend some policy
initiatives to overcome this problem.
4. This research will give us an opportunity to study the phenomenon from
young learners perspective and to investigate reasons behind one’s
decision to leave his studies.
5. The study may also be used to promote awareness and knowledge of
dropout and helps to draw a strategic plan for early intervention.

Therefore, this research provides the knowledge, information and data for the
authorities as well as for the interested researchers’ in the field education and
learning.

Furthermore, the research will provide guidelines and recommendation to

overcome the problem of drop out.

Nature of Study

I am planning to use a non-experimental qualitative grounded theory research

methodology. This approach is a “systematic, qualitative procedure used to

generate a theory that explains, at a broad conceptual level, a process, an
action, or interaction about a substantive topic ( Creswell, 2002, p. 439). With this
process, a new theory grounded in the responses of the participants w ill be
developed (Creswell, 2002). This approach will allow me to develop a theory
specifically related to why male students drop out of middle school in Riyadh,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Creswell (2002) described the five characteristics found in conducting a

grounded theory study. The characteristics Creswell (p. 447) identified :

1. Studying a process related to a substantive topic;

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 2. Sampling theoretically involving the simultaneous and sequential
collection and analysis of data;
3. Constantly comparing data with an emerging theory;
4. Selecting a core category as the central phenomenon for the theory;
5. Generating a theory that explains a process about the topic.

The grounded theory approach is appropriate “when you want to develop or

modify a theory, explain a process, and develop a general abstraction of the
interaction and action of the people” (Creswell, p. 456). Since no research exists
that specifically addresses the growing problem of male dropouts in the Riyadh
region’s school system, the development of a theory is an essential first step.

However, future quantitative research will have the potential to examine the

validity of the theory.

One characteristic of the grounded theory design is the use of theoretical

sampling (Creswell, 2002). This research study will include a student survey, a
teacher survey and parent’s survey focusing on their subsequent perceptions of
the characteristics of male student dropouts.

The survey questions will be developed through feedback from a selected group
of experts. As such surveys and studies are not common in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia therefore, a pilot study of the survey questions will be conducted to ensure

that the questions are easily understood and address the research questions
(Creswell). Theoretical sampling will employed with the second survey as a
means of supporting the responses from the initial survey.

This grounded theory research method involves analy sing the “sequence of
actions and interactions among people and events pertaining” to the selected
topic (Creswell, 2002, p. 448 & Charmaz, 2006).

The grounded theory design includes structural and reflective analysis conducted
through constant comparison of data with the emerging theory. This strategy
supports the premise that grounded theory corresponds to an inductive rather
than deductive approach to research, and this approach will accomplish the goals
of this study. According the Creswell (2002), “the overall intent is to ‘ground’ the

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Research Proposal – Mr. Unknown
categories in the data by relating specific incidents to other incidents, incidents
to categories, and then the broad categories to other categories” (p. 451). This
approach will allow me to review the participants’ responses and triangulate the
data by themes. Data analysis that goes from specific to broad will generate
evidence for the categories and support the development of the final theory.

After the identification of categories, the researcher will select a core category as
the basis of the theory’s central phenomenon. If saturation is achieved during
the data collection process, the researcher will be able to make a “subjective
determination that new data will not provide any new information” (Creswell,
2002, p. 649). The central phenomenon will become evident through the
relationship to other categories and the opportunity it presents for development.
This core category should appear frequently in the data, should be logical,
worded in a sufficiently abstract manner, and consistent when conditions vary
(Creswell, 2002).

The final characteristic of a grounded theory approach is the process of

developing a generalized theory that explains the process being studied
(Creswell, 2002).

Theory development will be built upon discovered characteristics and will be

unique in that the theory relates specifically to the data collected and analyzed in
the study thereby may limit the scope of its application to other settings or with
other participants. Through the steps identified in the grounded theory design,
hopefully I will develop a theory from the perceptions of participants on the

reasons why male students drop out of school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Research Questions

The development of research questions in qualitative research “help narrow the

purpose of a study into specific questions” (Creswell, 2002, p. 149). In the
grounded theory approach, the research questions change and emerge through
the systematic design suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1998).The purpose of
this study is to record and analyse students’ experiences with dropping out of
middle school in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The questions guiding the
research or in other words the main outcomes of the research aim to answer the
following research questions:

Q1: What stories do former middle school students tell about decisions to
dropout?
Q2: What are the main reasons for young learner’s dropout in middle school?
Q3: What internal school factors cause drop out?
Q4: What external factors affect drop out e.g. social class difference, family
background etc.? (Rumberger, 1987 & Entwisle et al., 2004; Lan &
Lanthier, 2003)

What is Dropout? Definition of the Problem

In order to develop solutions to a problem, one must first understand the

problem (Covey, 1990). The aim of this section is to provide a literature review
in the field of “dropout” and “at-risk youth”.

The term "dropout" has been used to describe all high school non-completers
regardless of the reasons or conditions which mark their leaving. It also carries a
pejorative or stigmatizing connotation associated with individual failure.
Therefore, non-completers and gradates are terms recommended by Canadian
researchers (Gilbert, et al., 1993).

The aim of this research is to investigate underlying causes of premature school

departure and identify the role played by state education authorities, curriculum
and assessment, teaching and learning environment and socio-economic
background of individual pupil.

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Although the data about the true figures of dropouts and its cost to the society is
not available for Saudi Arabia but American, Canadian, Australian and British
studies (Withers & Batten, 1996) show that over the course of his/her lifetime, a
high school dropout earns less than a high school graduate (Dunn, et al., 2004).
Furthermore, in USA Dropouts from the Class of 2008 alone will cost the nation
more than $319 billion in lost wages over the course of their lifetimes (National
Center for Education Statistics, 2000).

One reason for there being so much concern about drop outs from school is that
they cost a nation money. Dropouts are less likely to find and hold jobs that pay
enough money to keep them off public assistance. A study by the U.S. Census
Bureau found that more than one-third of all high school dropouts who were
employed full-time and year-round in 1990 worked in "low wage" jobs that paid
less than $12,195 per year—the official poverty rate for a family of four (U.S.
Bureau of the Census, 1992). Higher rates of unemployment and lower earnings
cost the nation both lost productivity and reduced tax income.

Dropouts cost the nation money in other ways as well. Research demonstrates
(Alliance for Excellent Education’ Factsheet, 2009 & de Cos, 2005) that dropouts
are also more likely to have health problems, engage in criminal activities, and
become dependent on welfare and other government programs than high school
graduates (Rumberger, 1987, 2001). These problems generate large social
costs. In one city alone it was estimated that a year's cohort of dropouts from
the city school system would cost $3.2 billion in lost earnings and more than
$400 million in social services (Catterall, 1987 & Khatiwada, McLaughlin, Sum,
2005).

Researchers’ have explored the causes and solutions to the dropout problems
(Withers & Batten, 1996) reviewed American, Canadian and British Literature
since 1984). These researchers identified a wide range of factors, including
school related factors, socio-economic factors, and ethnic background
(Rumberger, 2001 & Khatiwada, McLaughlin, Sum, 2005 & Raymond, 2008 &
Ferry, 2008).

Educational choice may also have an impact on the dropout decision. A study by
Ferris and West (2002) considered the impact of school choice on dropouts in
USA. Their model suggests that “vouchers work by lowering the cost of

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education to low-income non-conforming students and so increasing their
probability of remaining in school” (ibid. p. 791). They argue that a voucher
system may increase equity as well as efficiency. Lavy (2005) considers a new
program that expanded choice for students in Tel Aviv. His results suggest that
the choice program that allowed students to freely choose between schools in or
out of the district had significant general equilibrium effects on lowering the
dropout rates. In the state of Minnesota, the open enrolment program is similar
to the Tel Aviv program and is hypothesized to have a similar downward effect
on the dropout rate. However, this assumes that the competitive pressures of a
voucher or open enrolment program generate a supply response that caters to
the specific demands of the at-risk student. (Ferris & West, 2002)

Improvements in education quality result from school choice if three elements

are established: supply flexibility, money that follows students, and independent
management of schools (Hoxby 2006). Supply flexibility is one element that is
not satisfied in Saudi Arabia’s open enrolment policy. Oversubscribed schools
may have limited capital for expansion and can limit open enrolment.

The demand side of school choice may also be problematic since a robust sorting
process is required for improvements. Hoxby (2006) considers two channels
along which students may sort themselves – match quality (matching students
with pedagogical methods) and improvements in ‘x-efficiency’. It has been
suggested that a school district needing to show adequate yearly progress is
unlikely to design a curriculum that would attract at-risk students that would
diminish accountability test scores and threaten the district’s chances of
obtaining progress (Jerald, 2006).

Lack of motivation is another factors recognised by the researchers e.g. Hoxby

(2006) and (Jerald, 2006). Maslow (1970) defines motivation as a psychological
process where a behaviour is directed toward a goal based on an individual’s
needs. Keller (1999) argues that although motivation is idiosyncratic, learner
motivation can also be affected by external aspects, such as systematic
instructional design of tactics and strategies intended to improve motivation and
performance, as well as encouragement and support by instructors, tutors, or
peers. Thus, it would seem feasible to conduct a motivational analysis of

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learners and develop appropriate strategies to improve motivation, performance,
and retention i.e. decreases dropouts (Bloom (2009).

In contrast to the Arab world the dropout figures and risk factors are well
documented in the west (Batten M; Russell J., 1996 & Bloom, et al., 2009). But
some of the finding of these studies is confined to the west, e.g. ethnicity
(Aloise-Young & Chavez, 2002 Wayman, 2002 & Barclay & Doll, 2001, he Civit
Rights project, 2005), drugs (Jerald, 2006 & Yukselturk & Inan, 2006), alcohol
abuse (Ferry, 2008) and the issues related to the single mothers and teen age
pregnancies (Oei & Kazmierczak, 2000). Because these issues are not relevant
to Saudi Arabia therefore, I will stick to the issues which are relevant to study.

What is needed is the construction of “a comprehensive model of dropout

behaviour that addresses the notion that there are different types of
dropouts who leave school for different reasons Rumberger, 1987, p.
111).

The aim of the next section is to summarise sets of predictor variables

(the reasons/factors influencing dropout) for different (sometimes
overlapping) categorical profiles of at-risk students and their decision to
dropout. During this process I am only focusing on the factors which could
be influencing learners in my sample that is students in Riyadh middle
schools, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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 Theoretical Framework
Dropout; a phenomenon

Family School Student

Factors Factors Factors

School
environment

Young Learners
Parents
Curriculum & who dropped out Role and
syllabus Responsibilitie

 Understand who drops out of school and why (i.e. early warning signs)
 Examine the factors affecting students premature departure
 Provide suggestions and guidelines to improve education system to
engage disengaged young learners
 Provide suggestion in policy issues
 Provide suggestions to promote Personalized Curriculum to meet the
needs of an individual.

Figure 2: Research plan

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