By WHITNEY CLARK
With the hustle and bustle of student life during Fall and Winter Semesters, many students put work on hold so they can focus on school, and then look forward to summer as a welcome break where they can leave school behind and just focus on work.
Research shows, however, that students may achieve the best results academically when they combine work and school instead of keeping them separate.
Lauren Dundes, a professor of psychology at McDaniel College in Maryland, conducted a study to investigate the correlation between work and school.
When Dundes first began her research, she said she assumed there would be a negative correlation between students working and their academic excellence.
“You may think you see a pattern in something,” Dundes said, “but when you study it, you can see the real information.”
This is exactly what Dundes, along with co-worker Jeffrey Marx, did in their study.
“We found a definite correlation with students doing better when they worked 10 to 19 hours a week,” Dundes said. “Students working did better than those who just work a few hours or none at all.”
Dundes said as she looked at the data, she realized these statistics made sense.
She said people who are busy do not have the time to put off the things they have to do, so they get them done faster than those who are not busy.
“There is the old saying, when you want something to get done, give it to someone who is busy,” Dundes said.
Another study found that students who work less than 15 hours a week have a better chance of graduating within their first four years of college than those who do not work at all.
“We are very different because of the number of students who are employed on campus,” said Collette Blackwelder, manager for the student employment office.
She said BYU has somewhere between 12,000 and 13,000 students employed in on-campus jobs.
Blackwelder said studies done at BYU seem to support the conclusion that both students with off-campus jobs and those with on-campus jobs benefit from working while going to school.
According to the study done by BYU, about 80 percent of college students work while attending school. They attribute a lot of this to the rising costs of attending college.
College Board reported the average total costs are $16,357 for a four year public college or university and $33,301 for a private college or university.
Though College Board has BYU on the lower side of these statistics with average total costs (including room and board) of $15,685, this is still a high number for students trying to get by.
Jessica Bates, a senior from Tigard, Ore., studying geography, said she feels there are more benefits to working than just helping to pay for school.
“Working has actually made school seem easier,” Bates said. “I find work can actually be a refuge.”
Bates has been working at the conference center in the Harmon Building for three years. She said with an on-campus job, it is often nice because if it is slow, they may give you time to work on homework.
Bates said her grades have gone up since she started working while attending school.
“I think if you work it is a good opportunity to meet people, gain connections, get experience and even networking,” Bates said. “I have definitely enjoyed working while in school.”
Dundes said though it seems work does help students’ performance, they must be careful not to work too much.
“There is a negative correlation, however, between students who work more than 19 hours a week while attending school,” Dundes said
Dundes also said there may be other factors involved in the correlation she discovered.
The students who are working tend to be more motivated and more efficient as students, Dundes said.
In the end, she said her ultimate conclusion was when people are busier they are able to work more efficiently.
“It is amazing what you can get done when you have to get something done,” she said.
whitney.clark25@gmail.com
Copyright Brigham Young University 28 Apr 2009
