The effect of paid employment on university students' lives

Purpose - Owing to the increasing debt students are accumulating to finance their tertiary study, many are having to work during term time. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of this paid employment on their study time and other aspects of their lives.Design methodology approach - Eighty three undergraduates completed a questionnaire about their academic workload, their paid employment commitments during term time, their earnings and expenditure, and their recreational and cultural activities.Findings - Results indicated that 81 per cent of the students held at least one job during term time for an average of 14 hours per week. The money earned was typically spent on essential living expenses. Working left less time than desired for social activities, study and recreation.Research limitations implications - The findings are limited by the relatively small sample size of self-selected students: mainly young, female and enrolled in Arts courses.Practical implications - The results suggest that working is not always detrimental to students' academic efforts, particularly if the hours worked are manageable given their course load. Lecturers should be more aware of the busy lives students lead and try to structure assignments and course requirements to recognise this, including the scheduling of class times and the offering of study support services.Originality value - The study adds to the growing body of international data that reports on the effects of a user-pays approach in tertiary education. There is no similar data in New Zealand.