Part Time Job Influenced Student's Study
How does working part-time influence secondary students’ achievement and impact on their overall well-being?
by Charlie Naylor
May, 1999
Summary
The prevalence of secondary school students working part-time is linked to economic cycles: when there is an economic upturn, more students work; when economies are depressed, fewer work. Most students who work do so in low-paying service, clerical, or sales jobs, with some evidence that proportionately more students from middle-class families work than students from either poor or wealthy families. There appears to be a general view that there is a connection between working more than 15 to 20 hours per week and reduced school success in terms of academic achievement, as well as an increased risk of dropping out of school. However, it is not clear whether increased work causes the problems, or whether academic failure leads more students who are failing to increase their work hours.
Literature Review
A range of literature has been reviewed and some details from this literature are shared below.
The prevalence of work
It is not clear what proportion of students work, but in a (U.S.) study of 21,000 senior high school students, 75% were working part-time for an average of 16.4 hours a week (Gordon, 1985). The study found that working was related to a need for immediate income and to a lack of interest in school. In Canada, 40% of teenagers aged 15 to 19 had jobs in 1993, but these data include full-time summer jobs (Canadian Social Trends, Winter, 1994). B.C. teenagers are more likely to be employed than teenagers in Ontario, Quebec, or the Atlantic provinces, with 44% employed in B.C. Slightly higher teenage-employment rates than B.C.’s were reported in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. When only part-time work is considered, 72% of those employed worked part-time. 33% of full-time Canadian students aged 15 to 19 worked during the school year. The Statistics Canada (StatsCan) data reported in
by Charlie Naylor
May, 1999
Summary
The prevalence of secondary school students working part-time is linked to economic cycles: when there is an economic upturn, more students work; when economies are depressed, fewer work. Most students who work do so in low-paying service, clerical, or sales jobs, with some evidence that proportionately more students from middle-class families work than students from either poor or wealthy families. There appears to be a general view that there is a connection between working more than 15 to 20 hours per week and reduced school success in terms of academic achievement, as well as an increased risk of dropping out of school. However, it is not clear whether increased work causes the problems, or whether academic failure leads more students who are failing to increase their work hours.
Literature Review
A range of literature has been reviewed and some details from this literature are shared below.
The prevalence of work
It is not clear what proportion of students work, but in a (U.S.) study of 21,000 senior high school students, 75% were working part-time for an average of 16.4 hours a week (Gordon, 1985). The study found that working was related to a need for immediate income and to a lack of interest in school. In Canada, 40% of teenagers aged 15 to 19 had jobs in 1993, but these data include full-time summer jobs (Canadian Social Trends, Winter, 1994). B.C. teenagers are more likely to be employed than teenagers in Ontario, Quebec, or the Atlantic provinces, with 44% employed in B.C. Slightly higher teenage-employment rates than B.C.’s were reported in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. When only part-time work is considered, 72% of those employed worked part-time. 33% of full-time Canadian students aged 15 to 19 worked during the school year. The Statistics Canada (StatsCan) data reported in
References: Barone, F.J. (1993). "The Effects of Part-time Employment on Academic Performance." NASSP Bulletin, 76, 549. Bernier, S. (1995). "Youth Combining School and Work." Education Quarterly Review, 2, 4. Canadian Social Trends, Winter (1994). "Working Teens." Carskadon, M.A Cheng, M. (1995). "Issues Related to Student Part-time Work: What Did Research Find in the Toronto Situation and Other Contexts?" Toronto Board of Education Research Department. Gordon, R. (1985). "Part-time Work Experience of High School Seniors." Education and Employment Research for the Practitioner, Research Brief No. 4. ED 262254. Greenberger, E., Steinberg (1986). When Teenagers Work. New York: Basic Books. Hope, W. (1990). "Secondary School Students and Part-time Jobs." Paper prepared for the Park Street Collegiate Institute and the Simcoe County Board of Education. Lawton, S.B. (1992). "Part-Time Work and the High-School Student: Costs, Benefits, and Future. A Review of the Literature and Research Needs." Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Mortimer, J.T. et al (1993). "The Effects of Work Intensity on Adolescent Mental Health, Achievement, and Behavioural Adjustment: New Evidence from a Prospective Study," AERA paper, New Orleans. Oregon State Bureau of Labor and Industry, Portland (1991). "A Report of the Child Labor Task Force." Singh, K Stern, D. (1997). "Learning and Earning: The Value of Working for Urban Students." ERIC Digest #128 Worley, L.P Copyright© British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, 1999. All rights reserved.