Student ID: 1000 120 | The Effect of Part-Time Employment on Academic Performance | Research Methods Assignment 2014 |

Module title: Reseach Methods Module Leader: Artane Rizvanolli Lecturer: Richard Tomiak |

Many students find themselves in the position of needing employment while trying to attend classes. Some take out loans, or qualify for grants or scholarships. Others, however, are left to pay their own way by working fulltime or part-time employment. Approximately 80 % of students are employed while attending college. This percentage has led students believe that those students who work will be effecting their GDP in a bad way. However, some believe that working can have a positive effect. Work is becoming increasingly common among college students. Most students are having problem with balancing their work and academic requirements to maintain their life. Those who take on part-time jobs are less engaged in school before they enter the labor force, and part-time employment, “especially for more than 20 hours weekly, further exacerbates this problem” (Steinberg et al., 1993, p. 175). Therefore, working full time has an even greater impact on academics because, often times, working 40 or more hours further decreases a student’s college grade point average (GPA) and is negatively related to completion of a bachelor's degree (Astin, 1993). The act of balancing school work with the labor market may also lead students to put less effort into both because they are spreading themselves “too thin” (Astin, 1993).
It’s not the job itself that causes the problems, but the time worked because students who work more hours per week spend less time on their homework and pay less attention in class.
Dallam and Hoyt (1981) suggested that a good balance between students’ credit hours and working hours forced students to be more organized and to have better time management. Also those students who worked between 1 and 15 hours per week showed a slightly higher GPA than those who were not working at all (Dallam & Hoyt, 1981; Li-Chen & Wooster, 1979). Not only were higher GPAs found in students who maintained jobs, also stated that they had gained job skills, experience, knowledge of a variety of jobs, a feeling of responsibility, and money for personal and school expenses. Students that work as fast-food worker or cashier tend to have a negative effect on their academic performance, where as part-time jobs that seemed to develop their career skills may contribute to increase their academic performance, also these types of jobs are more likely to be flexible and work with students’ schedules. These types of jobs will allow students to gain experience that cannot be gained in the classroom. For example, I surveyed Pishtina Public University and 20 out 6 students who were job related to their studies had a mean GPA of 3.75, while those whose jobs were career unrelated had a mean GPA of 2.66. The study did not contribute to either the positive or negative relationship between working and academic achievement. These studies indicated that employment had some kind of impact on academic achievement. This survey has been based on the questionnaire that has been handed to the students in Prishtina Public University. The students were in the Economics major in the 3rd year of their study. Most of them were working because they needed income to pay their study. According to Ehrenberg and Sherman (1987) students have to decrease the number of hours working in order to perform better in college and to be able to graduate on time. Working more than 20 hours a week off campus contributes to a higher likelihood that students will drop out of school before receiving a degree. Fulltime workers are 10 percent less likely to eventually receive a degree than part-time workers or those who do not work at all. However, working 20 hours or less per week on campus did not seem to have an effect on dropout rates compared to non workers. In fact, having a part-time job on campus strongly increases the student’s chances of finishing college.

Although working a large number of hours (20+) can be detrimental to students’ academic success, parttime
(specifically oncampus) jobs can be very beneficial in many ways. Working a moderate number of hours often correlates with higher GPA.
These jobs help students be more effective and organized and provide important skills.
Oncampus
jobs often lead to greater integration into the university and provide applicable work experience.
Students should be very conscious of the number of hours they work. Although the line at which working becomes detrimental is ambiguous, overworking may decrease
GPA and increase time to graduation and dropout rates.