The Effect of Part-time Employment on Academic Performance

to Undergraduate Students at University of Makati

by: Esyl Ann Mamangun

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Abstract

This study clearly estimates the positive and negative effect of having part-time

employment on academic performance of students in University of Makati. Does it really

affect students’ academic performances? In attempt to answer this question, the

researcher collected information that include age, employment status, field of part-time

work, number of hours worked per week, numbers of hours a student spent in doing

academic works, extra-curricular activities, GWA for previous semester.

This study only focused on students studying for S.Y 2018-2019 at University of

Makati. The researcher concentrated to the effect it might give if the students spent

more of working in a part-time job rather than going to school and vice versa. This study

also pointed out the effect of having part-time job related and non-related course taken

in the school. This did not focus on reasons why these students chose to work while

studying. Though this gave consideration of different dimensions of pre-graduation

working activities such as projects, school’s foundation day, and other extra-curricular

activities. The need to settle self-selection based unobservable character traits such as

self-organization, mood, and traits are less expressed.

Descriptive Statistics is used in this study to analyze, describe, and summarize

the data. A measure of central tendency is also used by the researcher. This will use

tables and graphs that includes mode, median, and mean.

Introduction

Work during study is a common experience for many students at University of

Makati. Why do students work while studying, and what do they get out of it? These

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were among the key questions. A part-time job may improve or help develop particular

personal characteristics, including responsibility, work organization and time

management (Steinberg et al., 1981; Steinberg and Greenberger, 1982), which could

directly improve a student’s future position in the industry. However, the Theory of

Allocation of Time (Becker, 1965) points to a negative effect on the academic

performance of students who jointly work and study, since working might affect the time

dedicated to academic learning and activities (Buscha et al., 2012, Dustmann and van

Soest, 2007, Kalenkoski and Pabilonia, 2010). Most of the part-time job mainly

improves non-cognitive skills, which are not measured by standard school tests and

exams. On the other hand, time spent working reduces the time available for

educational activity (Kalenkoski and Pabilonia, 2009) and therefore could lead to lower

educational achievements, possibly resulting in school withdrawals. Nonetheless,

students who are involved in working activities while in college might not necessarily

have a lower academic performance than full-time students if they are able to efficiently

organize their time allocation, as in the case of substituting leisure for work (Dundes and

Marx, 2006, Butler, 2007).

Finally, job-qualification is improved only by pre-graduation working experiences

related to the field of study, but selection-corrected estimates highlight a higher effect of

- matched- part-time jobs rather than full-time jobs.

Overall, these findings point out the primary importance of working into part-time

jobs with less number of hours than more number of hours. The findings also point out

the part-time job that is related or not related to the field of education while enrolled in

higher education to improve graduates’ outcomes, without significantly dampening their

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academic performance. Moreover, the analysis highlights the relevance of jointly

considering different dimensions of pre-graduation working activities and settles the

need of accounting for self-selection based on unobservable traits, in order to fully

appreciate positive effects of combining study and work for students’ academic

performance.

Methodology

In this section, Descriptive Statistics is presented to identify the effect of studying

while working considering work categories characterized by different work intensity and

relation to the field of course. The researcher collected quantifiable information to be

used for statistical analysis. A measure of central tendency is also used by the

researcher. It is a single value that attempts to describe a set of data by identifying the

central position within that set of data.

Mode, median, mean

https://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/measures-central-tendency-mean-mode-

median.php