In contemporary academic settings, there were increasing percentages of students who have opted to work part-time. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), “in 2010, about 40 percent of full-time and 73 percent of part-time college students ages 16 to 24 were employed” (par. 1). The current discourse aims to assert that students should work part-time due to the benefits for their personal and professional growth provided that they could balance academic, family, personal and work effectively.
There are benefits noted from part-time work as delved into by students, including: (1) exhibiting persistance and determination to complete academic programs ; (2) contributory to generating higher GPA (BYU Employment Services; Dundes and Marx); (3) enabled students to be more efficient ; and (4) increases the chances of students obtaining a degree or finishing college, as scheduled .
On the contrary, those contending that students should devote their full attention on academic students indicate that working part-time contributes to the following: (1) exposrue to greater stress; (2) working more hours could potentially delay obtaining a degree or graduating on time ; and (3) greater hours spent on the job apparently hampers academic performance .
Overall, the secret of being able to maximize the benefits of working part time and not hampering academic performance is maintaining a stipulated number of hours that should not exceed 20 hours per week . As various studies have supported, students working part-time are able to exhibit higher GPAs, develop skills that make them more efficient, and enable them to complete the programs that they are pursuing with greater ease, determination, persistance, and commitment.
Works Cited
Astin, A.w. Preventing Students From Dropping Out. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1975.
BYU Employment Services. "Effects of Employment on Student Academic Success." December 2006. byu.edu. 1 March 2013
Dundes, L. and J. Marx. "Balancing Work and Academics in College: Why do Students Working 10-19 Hours Per Week Excel?" Journal of College Student Retention (2006): Vol. 8, No. 1, 107-120.
NCES. "College Student Employment." 2012. nces.ed.gov. 1 March 2013
UC San Diego. "Benefits of Student Employment." 2013. students.ucsd.edu. 1 March 2013
