Working, a Necessary Evil for Students - Article Example

Working, a Necessary Evil for There are two major trends that have emerged in the past quartercentury regarding college students. The first of these trends is that the academic demands made of students have increased with the increased access to information, globalization and increased accessibility to higher education for a variety of individuals. At the same time, the number of students who work full-time jobs in addition to taking classes full-time has also increased as more and more students are finding it necessary to support or at least partially support themselves and their families as they complete their education. As a result of these trends, the question is often raised whether or not the advantages of juggling two highly stressful full-time activities outweigh the disadvantages. After all, the goal of a higher education is to learn and working full-time can only be a detriment to this objective. Working increases stress levels because it takes time away from studies and the student never seems to have the time to complete their school assignments to the best of their ability or to participate in extra-curricular activities that might reinforce what they learn in the classroom. They are working as hard as they can but constantly underachieve in both the classroom and the workplace, a distressing dilemma that over a four-year period causes great stresses and many to leave school altogether. While it is recognized that working is necessary in many cases, it seems clear that students would have a better chance to reach their full scholastic potential if they were provided the opportunity to remain focused on school before work. The proof that there is a problem with too many students finding it necessary to work to get themselves through school can be found in the sheer numbers of students who must work. New studies have indicated that most students currently attending American colleges and universities are finding it necessary to hold paid employment positions while attending classes. More than three-quarters of all students claim they have to work at least part-time to help pay for their tuition and a full quarter of freshmen, who are somewhat overwhelmed just being at college for the first time, said they would have to work full-time to stay in school (Reisberg, 2000). The numbers of students having to work is steadily increasing. More students are in the workforce today than ever before. Just 25 years ago, for example, only about 15 percent of college freshmen worked to pay for tuition and/or living expenses but that number has grown to about 25 percent today, a large increase over a relatively short period of time. Recent reports indicate that as many as six million students in the United States now find it necessary to work in order to pay their expenses while attending college (Mutari & Lakew, 2007). The reasons for this are not simply because more people from lower income families are attempting to go to school but are instead the result of an unbalanced economic construct. “The costs of college have skyrocketed, increasing faster than inflation, family incomes, and taxpayer funding of public institutions and financial aid programs” (Mutari & Lakew, 2007). In a world where it is perceived that lack of a college education precludes gaining employment anywhere but a blue collar or service position, the choice becomes one of going into debt now and working as much as possible to offset it or remaining in debt forever. Working students perceive themselves to be under a great deal of excess stress as compared to their non-working counterparts. Two-thirds of college students that held either a part or full-time job said the situation was stressful (Ross, Niebling, and Heckert, 1999). In addition, many of these students indicate that working does not eliminate the financial stresses they experience as these are a constant issue whether they are working or not, but attempting to schedule time for work around school and studying just adds to academic pressures. “Students often feel overwhelmed because of a limited amount of time to do all that is required of them as students, and this is particularly true for those that hold part-time or full-time jobs. Students who have to work are being deprived of study time they would otherwise have” (Trockel, Barnes, and Egget, 2000). A third of working freshmen students questioned in a 1999 study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA stated that they felt ‘overwhelmed’, double the number in a similar study 15 years earlier. Broken down according to gender, 40 percent of women and 20 percent of men felt this way. The study included more than a quarter-million students at more than 450 colleges across the country. According to the study, “The stress really envelops a lot of issues that students are dealing with now. They’ve got so much to deal with in a faster-paced lifestyle than they did 20, 30 years ago” (Reisberg, 2000). However, there are those who question whether this ‘overwhelmed’ feeling is the result of working while attending school or is instead merely a part of the college experience. Stress is a commonly acknowledged fact of life for college students, especially those enrolled at extremely competitive universities and for those who work. This has been widely known to students likely since the first college opened. Leaving home for the first time, entering a new environment with new challenges is a major life change that, added to working a full-time job for the first time, causes enormous amounts of stress. Major life changes are stressful for anyone but to a person that has fewer life experiences it is often more so. According to stress management expert Adrian Whittle, simply leaving home for the first time is a major life stressor in itself. “For many [new students,] it will be the first time they have lived outside the nurturing and protective security of the family unit … one of the first tasks a student undertakes is to find an identity and effectively test the rules that were set out by their parents. The uncertainty and lack of identity is a common cause of stress” (2007). Universities have recognized and are addressing this by offering “academic support programs, counseling services, academic and career advising, living-learning centers, residence halls, campus activities, and health and wellness programs” (Chickering, Schlossberg, 1995). Additionally, universities are providing other services expressly intended to assist students in adjusting to college life such as, “new student orientation programs, University 101 courses, freshman interest groups and learning communities, developmental/remedial courses, and early warning systems” (Chickering and Schlossberg, 1995). Practically all universities now supply multiple services that can play a positive role in easing the burdens for students in general, several of which are applicable to the issues faced by working students. Despite the prodigious amounts of stress simply leaving home and completing coursework might cause, the idea that they are consistently increasing their level of debt before they even have a chance to start in the career world is often very stressful to students coming straight out of high school and have only a sketchy concept of finances. Whittle (2007) indicates one of the largest factors for stress among college students remains this debt-related stress and the driven need to work to offset the debt their education is incurring. “Possibly one of the biggest stressors for some college students is the considerable debt they will have to take on, in order to afford tuition fees, campus accommodation and textbooks … Whilst the debt alone is stressful, the need to service this debt can cause the student to over-extend themselves. This might mean that they have to take on a second job or work long hours as an employee and a student at the same time” (Whittle, 2007). This stress often forces students to make choices between school and work that facilitate neither. Students interviewed by Mutari and Lakew (2007) indicated that trying to work and go to school full-time typically had negative impacts on grades, prevented the type of library access they needed, limited their class choices and reduced their ability to get help on course work or take advantage of campus sponsored assistance programs. This feeling of being ‘overwhelmed’ by work and school can significantly reduce a student’s ability to concentrate on their studies when they do have time to devote to their class work. A common pitfall for working students is scheduling more activities than they can handle. Students always need more money and taking on more hours at work only leads to more stress and defeats the intended educational goals. The schedule must be attainable with some time left over for relaxation. “In order to avoid stress in college, you must have a schedule that allows you enough time to complete things properly” (Brantley, 2007). Scheduling eight hours on the job with six hours of classes, three hours to study and seven hours for sleep per day will not work for long. Life cannot be planned to the minute because, as everyone knows, unexpected situations arise for everyone and all the time. “As a college student it may be hard to find time to plan for emergencies, but it must be done in order to avoid stress. There could be a point where something happens and you aren’t able to finish what you had planned for that day” (Brantley, 2007). A good solution to time management is to plan to finish projects early. If a school assignment is given out on Monday that is due the following Monday, it would be beneficial for the student to schedule its completion, in whatever increments, on that Friday instead of Sunday night for example. Allowing sufficient time for sleep is essential for the reduction of stress for working students. Eight full hours of sleep with a goal of getting to bed by midnight is generally recommended. “This may seem far-fetched, but it is important to get enough sleep if you want to avoid stress in college. Getting enough sleep will ensure that you have the energy to complete assignments and that you are alert enough to take quizzes and exams” (Brantley, 2007). It is important to note that within the given scenario of a full-time college schedule of 6-8 hours per day, a full-time job of 8 hours per day and a need to sleep for 8 hours a day, there is no remaining time left over for relaxation or extra-curricular college activities such as athletics, drama or music. This can lead to a sense of dissociation not only from the college, but also from the job site that can have detrimental effects for each. Stress itself can have numerous harmful effects upon the body, all of which can prevent a student from gaining the most out of their education regardless of whether they have time to participate in extra-curricular activities. Research has demonstrated that stress alone can cause biological illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, gastro-intestinal illness, musculoskeletal issues and weakens the immune system. In addition, high levels of stress such as that incurred when attempting to balance a full-time college course load with a full-time job immediately after having left the comparatively carefree days of high school and full parental support can create many behavioral issues (Wilke, Gmelch & Lovrich, 1985). Students overwhelmed with work and school report poor relationships with fellow students, teachers and co-workers, experience greater levels of absenteeism from both work and school as they try to maintain a balance between both and lose a great deal of self-confidence and self-esteem in the process. A mind constantly stressed with the details of how to fit too many responsibilities into too short a space of time is unable to fully concentrate on the task before it and is thus less able to absorb the lessons to be learned. Loss of self-esteem further erodes the students’ ability to perform well on school-related activities and develops a spiral of increasing feelings of defeat, causing many students to drop out of school prior to completing their program (Goldman & Wong, 1997). Rather than having the desired effect of allowing students to obtain a college degree without incurring crippling debt for a large portion of their adult lives, the process of having students work full-time while attending school full-time has the opposite effect of reducing their ability to learn, undermining their confidence and overtaxing their physical resources. Despite the numerous disadvantages associated with working while attending school, there have been some studies that suggest working can have its benefits for students. Once the student has completed college, for example, most employers show a strong preference for employing someone with work experience, especially if that experience has been gained in the same general field (Mutari & Lakew, 2007). Students who have held jobs while attending school become more independent and understand better how to ‘fit in’ to a workplace environment. The sense of independence and confidence they can gain through earning their own spending money makes many students more likely to rely on themselves rather than immediately request help from parents and teachers. The need to juggle school and work with leisure activities and extra-curricular activities helps students develop better decision-making skills. Working students are likely to be more competitive upon graduation and better understand the satisfaction of having pride in their work and the value of money. It also builds self-confidence. Further skills such as marketing, customer relations and efficiency are learned as well (“Part-time jobs”, 2003). “So long as the hours are not excessive, part time jobs can be beneficial” (“Many Students”, 2006). This is the key to whether a job outside of college classes is beneficial or detrimental. Students who work part-time jobs, meaning less than 15-20 hours per week, can often be seen to benefit greatly from the experience while students who work 20-40 or more hours per week are seen to suffer to the same drastic extent. Students that work seldom have the choice not to work if they want to stay in school. Both school and work are stressful activities and when combined overwhelm many students to the point where they feel that they must make a choice and for most this means dropping out of school. It is a tough balancing act but, as many people have demonstrated, not impossible if steps are taken to alleviate stressful conditions. Students who must work full-time to support themselves while attending college may benefit from adopting different strategies to completing their education. Options may include reducing their class loads or choosing to work one year to focus on classes the next. State and federal government can also contribute to the education and welfare of the country’s future by increasing the subsidies offered to colleges and universities, better offsetting the disparities between financial aid options and the cost of an education. While there are many ways in which students might be able to successfully and completely obtain a college education, one thing seems clear, working full-time while attending classes full-time can have nothing but negative effects on the college student. Works Cited Brantley, Amy. “Tips to Help You Avoid Stress in College.” Associated Content. (2007). October 14, 2007 Chickering, Arthur W., and Schlossberg, Nancy K. Getting the Most out of College. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1995. Goldman, Cristin S. & Wong, Eugene H. “Stress and the College Student.” Education. Summer 1997. “Many Students Have to get Jobs.” BBC News. (2006). October 14, 2007 Mutari, Ellen & Lakew, Melaku. “Class Conflict.” Dollars and Cents. Boston, MA: 2007. October 14, 2007 “Part-time jobs build life skills for students.” The China Daily. (2007). October 14, 2007 Reisberg, L. “Student stress is rising, especially among women.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Vol. 46, (2000), A49-50. October 14, 2007 Ross, S. E., Niebling, B. C., & Heckert, T. M. “Sources of stress among college students.” College Student Journal. Vol. 33, (1999), 312-317. Trockel, M. T., Barnes, M. D., & Egget, D. L. “Health-related variables and academic performance among first-year college students: Implications for sleep and other behaviors.” Journal of American College Health. Vol. 49, (2000), 125-131. October 14, 2007 Whittle, Adrian. “Common Causes of Stress Among College Students.” Ezine Articles. (March 19, 2007) October 14, 2007 < http://ezinearticles.com/?Common-Causes-Of-Stress-Among-College-Students&id=495139> Wilke, Phyllis Kay; Gmelch, Walter H. & Lovrich, Nicholas P. Jr. “Stress and Productivity: Evidence of the Inverted U Function.” Public Productivity Review. Vol. 9, N. 4, (Winter 1985), pp. 342-356. Read More