An Exploration of Employment Factors that Facilitate or Hinder Working College Students’ Academic Success

This study was part of a larger study which investigated college student experiences, and how students negotiate multiple roles. This study specifically examined college students’ perceptions of how their employment facilitates versus hinders their abilities to meet the demands of other roles in life such as student, family member, significant other, volunteer, and extracurricular participant. We also assessed students’ suggestions for improving employment conditions to succeed in college. One-on-one interviews with 31 college students were conducted face-to-face, or via Facetime, or Skype. All interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim. Consistent with job facilitation theory, the results showed that students identified flexibility, skill building, and socialization as positive aspects of employment. Students also reported work-school conflict as work caused scheduling hassles with school and hindered their ability to be more involved at college in addition to diminishing time for social/personal life. Students experienced a lot of work-school conflict and some detrimental effects of juggling the demands of work with their other roles. Implications and future research regarding student criteria for choosing places of employment and course load adjustments are discussed