University Students Employment - Essay Example

? Employment April 27, Table of contents …………………………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..3 Scope and purpose of study……………………………………………………………………….4 Background………………………………………………………………………………………..4 Method and Limitations…………………………………………………………………………...5 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………….5 Findings…………………………………………………………………………………………...6 Effects of paid employment on the performance of students……………………………………..7 Recommendations ………………………………………………………………………………...8 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………..8 References………………………………………………………………………………………..10 Questionnaire…………………………………………………………………………………….11 Abstract Student employment is any form of or type of activity in which students engage in and for which they get financial compensation in return. Student employment may occur within the campus or outside the property of the campus, and the employment may be full time or part time in nature. On-campus employment that is a form of employment that takes place within the precincts of campus and the university is the direct employer of the student. Off-campus employment on the other hand does not take place within the campus or its property and the university is not the employer of the student. Employment has got the overall effect of affecting the performance of the student in terms of GPA either negatively or positively. Most students are engaged in paid employment in the course of their studies either within the campus or outside the campus. The question that then arises is whether these employment opportunities affect their academic performance or not. Introduction An overwhelming majority of students take on paid employment in order to make ends meet in their daily needs both during the school term and the holidays. The average annual costs of education continue to soar by at least 6% calling for the need to bridge this cost through other modes of earning an income. According to education experts these additional costs require that the student generates more income through other sources or means. As the escalating costs of education continue to make the student more constrained, the students are left with no option but to seek for other funds for tuition. This explains why a majority of students taking their undergraduate studies are in paid employment. The work undertaken by the students is often unskilled and the pay is calculated at hourly rates. The motivation for the work undertaken by students is to pay for extras such as clothing, holidays and socializing underlining the main reason for employment activities by students as that aimed at improving the quality of life that students often live. Scope and purpose of study The study of the effects of the paid employment on the performance of the student has mainly covered students undertaking their undergraduate studies. There is little discussion as to the effects on students taking their postgraduate studies. A comparison has been made on the effect of employment while in campus that is the on-campus employment and off-campus employment of students. Performance of the student has been discussed in relation to how the paid employment affects them in their final GPA grades. The role played by the number of hours worked by particular student has been discussed extensively. Background The effects of employment on the performance of students is counter-intuitive in the sense that with the absence of knowledge of the prevailing facts make students believe that working is detrimental to their academic success. This is despite the fact that research has proven that employment undertaken in moderation may increase the efficiency and organization of the student through the imparting of skills necessary for post-college marketability. In finding out the effects of employment on the performance of the student it is important to note that most of the students who are in paid employment are those from disadvantaged backgrounds and the employment affects the student by detracting him from studies but does not ultimately affect the results obtained by the student in the academic results obtained. Method and Limitation This study has been conducted through the use of questionnaire administered to selected group of students within an institution of higher learning, basically a university. Comparisons have been made with empirical data obtained from researches done by scholars on the effect of paid employment on the performance of the students. The limitation of the data obtained from questionnaires is the fact that most respondents were not truthful in answering the questions. The differing opinion of scholars on the effect of paid employment to the performance of students makes it difficult to draw a conclusive response in the investigation of performance of students in relation to student performance. Literature Review Several studies have shown that the various effects of full-time or part-time employment on the academic achievement of the students, empirical data indicate that work done by students affects them negatively especially in the initial years of education but gradually decreases as the years progress. The only derider to this statistic is that employment will not affect the student if done in moderation or considerable working hours. Studies have shown that students undertaking their undergraduate studies suffer negative effects of activities that are not related to the academic life of the student though at times the activities are not pronounced in the grade that the student attains. The only advantage of this is that they help students to improve on their organizational and exposure skills. There is however a disagreement as to whether students in paid employment suffer a negative impact on their academic performance. Several researches suggest that students are not always affected by the employment opportunities and as they are able to balance the competing demands of the classroom and the employment place. The studies show that students with high paid and homework piles are not essentially at danger of failure or dropping from school. While students who work for about fifteen hours a week have their grades affected by the employment they are involved in, other students who worked for an average of about five hours a week have their economic well-being improved. The negative results come as a result of conflicts between the study hours and the times of work. Studies have suggested that there is a correlation between the amount of paid work and the final mark obtained by the student. A growing number of university students are involved in employment opportunities which ultimately affect their overall performance at the university. This is because the work commitments are usually time consuming making the student disengaged from the usual daily activities that should apply to the normal classroom student. This mostly affects students from low or poor backgrounds who are likely to be involved in paid employment as a form of supplementary assistance to the student which affects their performance negatively. Therefore overloaded students often have decreased attitudes towards academic activities and the burning ambition to get things done lowers the academic results obtained by the student (Applegate and Daly, 2006). Findings Most studies conclude that time and energy being the finite resources affects the student in his daily academic performance when performed with a job. Students who work less than 15-20 hours perform better (Dundes and Jeff, 2006) than those who work for hours exceeding 20 hours. The United States Department of Education through The National Centre for Education statistics has confirmed that students working for about 15 hours a week perform better in academics as compared with those who work slightly longer hours. The upshot of the above argument is that there is no strong evidence that work hours in the academic year lead to a reduction of academic grades (Pern, 2010). Effects of paid employment on the performance of students Paid employment has got the effect of increasing the time to graduation of a student in that students find themselves in a situation where they have to reduce the number of credit hours in the term in order to create time for employment. This leads to a longer term that affects the time at which a person is expected to graduate. Similar researches have also indicated that students who work for more than 20 hours in a week have a higher chance of the student dropping out of school or delaying in the attainment of a degree. Students involving in paid employment have got the effect of being affected in their future earnings. Student employment has got a positive effect on the future earnings of a student as working while in campus stimulates person to be actively motivated to enroll for postgraduate studies thus increasing earnings in the long-term. The main reason for this is the fact that working while in campus includes responsibilities that are accompanied by academic components that ultimately improve the academic experience. This has got the final effect of enhancing resumes through meaningful and applicable work that improves the marketability of a person towards achievement of higher paying jobs. Although working for a large number of hours, which is 20 hours and above may be detrimental to the academic success of the student, part-time or work undertaken for reasonable hours can be beneficial to the student in many ways. Researches state that working for moderate hours of time has got a direct correlation with the achievement of higher GPA marks as the jobs help the students to be more effective and organized through the provision of important skills. The on-campus jobs help in the integration of students in the university and at the same time provide applicable work experiences (Green and Sue, 1987). On a positive note, paid employment by students can improve their time management skills when the employment is for considerably shorter hours but has got a little negative effect on the student when the employment is for longer hours. However, students have found better ways of covering for the extra hours spent in employment by compensating the hours spent in employment through the reduction of hours spent on leisure. Recommendations Students are therefore implored to be conscious of the number of hours they undertake in the employment opportunities though it is always difficult to know at what time work may become detrimental as working for considerably long hours may decrease GPA and lead to an increase in the time taken to graduate and further the drop outs. As a way forward, university student-employment authorities are encouraged to ask the students to look for financial aid through on-campus employment opportunities (Schuman, 2009). Student employment offices are also asked to provide the students with resources that help them in time management as this will help the students excel both at school and at work that eventually benefits them in their post-college endeavors. Conclusion Employment opportunities are always meant to improve the grades of a student especially if they foster attributes that are complementary to the academic success of the student but they may also affect the academic grades of the student through the reduction of the time and energy spent on the school work as compared to the hours in employment (Lesage, 2002). What is required of the student will be a careful balance of the requirements of the employment opportunities and the academic performance. This can only be achieved through proper management of time by the student both at school and the work place. References Applegate, C. and Daly, A. (2006). The Impact of Paid work on the academic performance of students: A case study from the University of Canberra. Australian Journal of Education, Vol 50, No.2, 155-166. Dundes, L. and Jeff, M. (2006). "Balancing Work and Academics in College: Why Do Students Working 10 to 19 Hours Per Week Excel?" Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. 8.1: 107-120. Print. Green, G. and Sue N. J. (1987). "The Effect of Part-Time Employment on Academic Achievement." Journal of Educational Research. 80.6: 325-29. Print. Lesage, Julia. (2002). Making a Difference: University Students of Color Speak Out. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Pern, L.W. (2010). Understanding the Working College Student: New Research and Its Implications for Policy and Practice. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Schuman, S. (2009). Leading America's Branch Campuses. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Questionnaire 1. What is your name? Answer: David 2. Are you currently enrolled in a university or an institution of higher learning? Answer: Yes 3. Are you taking your undergraduate or postgraduate studies? Answer: Undergraduate studies 4. What level/grade are you currently in? Answer: Second year of study 5. How much do you spend in your accommodation upkeep in form of dollars per semester? Answer: US $ 6000 6. How much do you spend per semester for your tuition needs? Answer: US $ 20,000 7. Are you engaged in any form of paid employment while undertaking your studies? Answer: Yes 8. Why are you employed while in campus? Answer: To raise extra amount to cover tuition fees and accommodation costs 9. Is the employment full-time or part-time? Answer: Part-time 10. Would you prefer to be employed on-campus or off-campus? Answer: On-campus 11. What kind of employment are you engaged in if any? Answer: Working in the campus criteria 12. How many hours do you spend at the work place? Answer: 3 hours per day 13. How much do you earn from your employment, if any? Answer: US $ 50 per hour 14. How many hours do you spend in the classroom? Answer: 4 hours per day 15. Do you have any recommendation as to what should be done to improve the welfare of students? Answer: The university authorities should provide on-campus employment opportunities for students Read More