The costs and benefits of part-time work for

1
The costs and benefits of part-time work for
young undergraduate students at a post-1992
University

• Anna Round
• Research Associate
• Student Services Centre
• Northumbria University
• anna.round_at_northumbria.ac.uk

2
Potential benefits of part-time work

• Debt minimisation/avoidance
• Reduction in stress due to financial issues
• Enhanced lifestyle
• Financial independence from parents
• Work employment experience
• Enhanced skills

3
Potential costs of part-time work

• Reduction in time for studies
• Reduction in time for other activities
• Conflict with student role
• Poor working conditions

4
Student employment in the UK

• Full-time undergraduate students in employment
  during term
• Over 50 in 2003 2005
• (UUK 2005, Callender Wilkinson 2003)
• Just under 50 in 2000 (Metcalf 2003)
• UNITE/MORI suggest 41 (2005)
• Mean working week during term rising several
  studies suggest that gt 15 hpw is the average
• Higher rate of employment at post-1992
  institutions and among students from
  working-class backgrounds

5
Institutional findings

• Rate of student employment has risen
• 77.2 of current first years
• 69.6 of final year students in 06/07
• 58.1 of final year students in 05/06
• Mean working week has fallen
• 11½ hours per week for current first years
• 13¾ hours per week for final year students 06/07
• 15½ hours per week for final year students 05/06

6
Employment trends

• Rates of pay higher in final year
• This relates to final year trend towards
  course-related employment
• Stronger for students in Health/ Social work
  disciplines and for male students in other fields
• Employment spending patterns indicate three
  roles for part-time work debt minimisation,
  balancing the budget, and money for fun

7
Student employment attainment

• Several possible views
• Students in term-time employment have lower
  attainment because of reduced time/conditions for
  study
• Students in term-time employment have lower
  attainment because of lower commitment to
  studies/other issues
• Some students in term-time employment have lower
  attainment safe limit on working hours
• No direct relationship between student employment
  and attainment

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Independent study term-time employment
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Working patterns in term-time employment
  first year final year
weekends only 32.5 27.5
two or more midweek daytime shifts 21.3 18.7
late night (midnight - 2pm) in the week 18.8 8.8
overnight in the week 3.8 2.2
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Impact on studies?

• Similar responses for first and final year
  students
• More than 80 state that their attendance was
  never affected by their job under 5 state
  that their attendance was affected frequently
• Around 90 have never missed a coursework
  deadline due to part-time work under 2 have
  done so frequently
• Around 75 feel that the quality of their work
  has never been reduced because of their job
  none feel that the quality of their work has been
  reduced frequently
• Around 75 have never felt that they are not
  really part of their course because of their
  job around 12 have felt this frequently and a
  similar proportion have felt this occasionally

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Patterns of employment impact on studies

• Impact on attendance, quality of assignments and
  feeling part of ones course is significantly
  related to length of working week in employment
  in both first and final year
• No relationship to mean length of time spent in
  independent study
• Students who felt studies were affected
  frequently had a mean working week well in
  excess of safe 15 hour limit
• Students who felt studies were affected
  occasionally had a mean working week close to
  safe 15 hour limit
• Students who felt their studies were unaffected
  had a mean working week of less than 15 hours

12
Impact on course-related activities

• Independent study
• Around 10 felt the time they spend on
  independent study was affected a lot by their
  job
• Around 60 felt the time they spend on
  independent study was affected a little by
  their job
• Reading
• Around 25 felt the time they spend reading was
  affected a lot by their job
• Around 50 felt the time they spend reading was
  affected a little by their job

13
Impact on course-related activities

• Assignments and coursework
• Around 10 felt the time they spend on
  assignments coursework was affected a lot by
  their job
• Around 33 felt the time they spend on
  assignments coursework was affected a little
  by their job
• Using learning resources
• Around 10 felt the time they spend using
  learning resources was affected a lot by their
  job
• Around 33 felt the time they spend using
  learning resources was affected a little by
  their job

14
Impact on other activities
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Patterns of employment impact on activities

• Significant relationship between hours in
  term-time employment and reported impact on time
  spent reading, studying, writing assignments,
  using learning resources, and sleeping
• NO relationship between hours in independent
  study and any of these factors
• NO relationship between hours in term-time
  employment and time spent in social activities

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Academic reasons for not working
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Other reasons for not working

• Reasons such as alternative resources, family
  pressure to do well in ones studies and
  inability to find a suitable job were cited by
  fewer than 50 of students
• Around 25 stated that they would rather borrow
  money than work during term
• Over 50 feel that juggling employment, study
  and other commitments would be a problem
• Around 1/3 of first year students and 2/5 of
  final year students stated that they can rely on
  savings

18
Reasons for working

• Debt minimisation is very important for just
  under 50 and quite important for c. 25
• Working students in the final year have lower
  mean debt but use commercial credit products more
  heavily than non-working students
• Around 60 of all working students state that
  they cant manage on just loans/grants
• Around 48 of working first years need the money
  for basic essentials compared to almost 60 of
  working final year students

19
Work experience

• Work experience is a factor for around 40 of
  students, in particular final year students with
  a course/field relevant job
• The social experience of part-time work is
  important to over 40 of final year students and
  over 50 of first year students

20
My job has helped me develop useful skills
21
Overload?

• Under 30 of first years complain of overload
• Around 50 of final years complain of overload
• Experience of overload is closely related to
  mean length of working week in employment and
  also to independent study
• Those in course/field relevant jobs are less
  likely to complain of overload

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Conclusions

• Majority of working students feel that their job
  has had a positive effect on their time at
  university
• Mean length of working week in employment is a
  key factor in experience of part-time work for
  students
• Part-time working plays a different role for
  different student groups, in conjunction with
  other aspects of financial experience

23
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