A Phenomenological Analysis of the Causes of School Dropout among Male Upper Secondary Students in Rural Mountainous Areas (Case Study: The Mountainous Villages of Silvana)

A B S T R A C T

With Today, school dropout and academic underachievement are among the most critical challenges facing educational systems and educational policymakers worldwide. The aim of the present study was to conduct a phenomenological analytical investigation into the causes of school dropout among male students in upper secondary education in the mountainous rural areas of Silvana. This study adopted a qualitative approach using a phenomenological research design. In line with the nature of the study, criterion-based purposive sampling was employed, and data were collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews. The sample size was determined based on the principle of theoretical saturation, resulting in a total of 12 interviews. The participants consisted of upper secondary school teachers who had direct experience working with students who had dropped out of school.Data analysis was conducted using the grounded theory approach through three stages of open, axial, and selective coding. The findings led to the identification of five main categories, which were integrated into a paradigmatic model centered on the core phenomenon of “the integrated poverty of the mountainous rural environment as a field for school dropout at the upper secondary level.” The results indicated that, based on 98 initial codes and 35 main themes, five key categories were identified by the participants (teachers) as the primary causes of school dropout in the rural community under study: economic–livelihood factors, social factors, cultural–educational factors, family (individual) factors, and managerial–infrastructural factors.Finally, a conceptual model was developed to prevent and minimize school dropout among rural male students by considering causal, intervening, and contextual conditions. The findings further revealed that, from the perspective of the core community, the rate of school dropout in the study area has been increasing annually. Accordingly, within the interpretive paradigm, the fundamental and underlying causes of school dropout among upper secondary rural students in Silvana can be conceptualized as an integrated form of rural poverty encompassing economic, socio-cultural, value-based, and infrastructural dimensions.