Investigated employee characteristics and attitudes of 243 female and 105 male secondary school teachers to determine if men and women had different reasons for being absent. Although women perceived some work related factors differently than men and took substantially more days off than men, their absence occurrences were not significantly different. In addition, an employee's age and attitude toward pay were the only factors that exhibited a gender-related impact on absenteeism. Perceived role conflict and job involvement were significantly related to absenteeism for men and women.