Investigation of Students Working Part-Time - Research Paper Example

Investigation of Students working Part time By Student’s Name Course + Course Name Professor’s Name University Name City, State Date Investigation of Students working Part time 1. Introduction Working part time refers to instances when the students undertake some kind of jobs besides studying in order to enable them to spend their free or leisure time in a proper way. In order to remove some boring feelings in them, some students opt to take up a job so that they can spend their leisure time. This makes such students to become more active in their day today activities while also being concerned about their studies as well (Perna, 2012). 1.1 Aim The aim of this research paper is to investigate the students who are undertaking their studies while also working in order to ascertain whether this practice has a positive or negative effect on the students concerned. This is also due to the fact that there has been an argument stating whether such students should be capable of maintaining a part time job. There are numerous students in the contemporary society, which are doing it, and the question is whether such practice is right or wrong. This is therefore an argument that is actually a complex issue having different opposing opinions. 1.2 Background Information Based on an article written by Thomas Lu, a lot of encouragement is given to stress the fact that indeed, students should work as well as go to school. The article stipulates that as long as such students are not involved in any co-curricular activities, then they should definitely just work based on various reasons. The article states that in the long run, working while learning for the students is beneficial because since it will ultimately teach the students how they can spend their hard earned money in a wise manner as well as learn how to save (Lu, 1993). The implication of the article is that being a student while working as well aids the students to not only manage their time but also be in a better position of using their free time in a more productive and useful manner as opposed to instances where some of the students who are not working spend their free time watching television. It is quite a genuine fact that before one gets permanent employment or job, they should get adequate experience regarding the job that they will be doing in future. For instance, some of the students are given some internship offers before they graduate from their respective universities. Such internships are a good example of part time jobs, which are capable of giving such students the relevant experiences that are needed in their future jobs. In essence, it can be correctly argued that part time jobs are capable of making the students to be more profitable, perfect and more efficient in their future lives. It is important for students to work part time and maintain their grades as well. Thomas Lu stated that students who work while learning or undertaking their studies are normally less dependent on their guardians or parents and loans since they will be able to save money and enable them to undertake university education. In addition to that, working overtime enables the students to build their resumes and experience in different work environments thus helping them to ascertain their strengths and weaknesses. This, in the end, provides such students to gain excellent skills in the writing of resumes, interviews and knowing how it feels to be in different work settings. By students working part time, they will be able to manage both their time and money well. Working part time for the students is important because it makes such students to be more active while also giving them some helpful experiences while at the same time helping the students to earn pocket money (Remenyi 2007) 2.0 Method 2.1 Secondary Sources A secondary source refers to something, which is written regarding a primary source. Some of the secondary sources that were used in compiling this report include the comments from various people regarding how they felt about the students who were working part time, discussions regarding the original materials, and interpretations. In essence, most of the secondary sources that were used in the report were second hand information like articles in numerous newspapers, popular magazines, movie reviews, books and articles, which were found in scholarly journals, which evaluate or discuss the original research. 2.2 The Primary Sources that were used in the research A primary source refers to the original object or subject. In this case, the university and college students were the raw materials or the first hand information that was used as primary sources when compiling the report. Direct observation of the students who were studying while also working at the same time was conducted. The subjects who were used in the report as primary sources were 30 students from various colleges and universities. I used these subjects because they were in a better position to give information regarding the impacts of working part time while also undertaking studies. 2.2.2 Questionnaire In order to get factual information regarding investigations aimed at the students who were working part time, I developed questionnaires, which were distributed to various students in different colleges. I used a total of five questions, which were aimed at making the students to answer how they felt about the students who were working on a part time basis while also undertaking their studies. My questionnaires were developed in such a way that they were simple in order to make the students respond to them within a short period of time. The questionnaire therefore contained the following questions. What is your general view regarding working part-time while studying? In your own opinion, is working part time advantageous or disadvantageous? What are the advantages associated with working on a part-time basis while studying? What are some of the perceived disadvantages associated with working part time while also studying? How many of your friends are working part-time while also studying? 2.2.3 Procedure for the administration of Questionnaires and collating of results I personally administered the questionnaires to the students who were located in various colleges and universities in the locality. I assured them that the information they gave would be treated with the highest confidentiality and will not be used by any other third party. In order to assure them of such confidentiality, I told them to use the initials of their names so as to maintain their privacy. After one week, I went back to collect the feedback from the students in order to collate my results. I therefore compiled all the feedback from the thirty students and made a table where I wrote the response of the students to each particular question. Finally, I tallied the number of positive and negative responses towards the questions. In the questionnaire, the passive voice was used because it referred to activities which were conducted in the past hence the need to say, “The Researcher distributed the questionnaires to the students” instead of “The researcher will distribute the questionnaires to the students”. The use of passive voice has therefore been well applied in this section. 3. Results and Discussion Table 3.1: The General View of Students regarding working part time while also studying VIEWS YES NO Is working part time good for the student 24 6 Do students enjoy working part time while studying 27 3 Are most of the your friends studying while also working part time 26 4 Are students working part time and also studying doing well in class 25 5 Results Based on the table above, it can be ascertained that working part time while also studying was good for most of the students and that most of the students enjoyed working on a part time basis while also studying. Based on the above table, it can also be truly asserted most of the students worked on a part time basis while also studying and that most of the students working part-time continued to do well in class. The above results are a clear pointer that indeed, working part time was beneficial to the students concerned. Table 3.2: Is working part-time advantageous or disadvantageous? VIEWS ADVANTAGEOUS DISADVANTAGEOUS Is working part-time 27 3 From the table above, it can genuinely be ascertained that most of the students regarded working overtime as being advantageous instead of disadvantageous. This is attributed to the number of 27 students who responded that it was indeed advantageous. Table 3.3: Advantages/Disadvantages associated with working on part-time basis ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES Gives students more experience on their future jobs You cannot serve two masters at a time It is a source of pocket money for the students Students working while also studying are prone to fail their exams It helps the students to become self reliant It enables the students to better manage their time and money It makes the students to be more profitable, more perfect and more efficient in their future lives. Results and explanations From the above table, it can correctly be ascertained that there are numerous advantageous which are associated with working on a part time basis as opposed to the disadvantages that are associated to it. This is therefore a clear reflection that indeed, working part-time while also studying is quite beneficial to the students. Possible Reasons for the results Based on the above responses, it can be ascertained that most students responded that there were advantageous which were linked to working part-time while also studying. Most of the students answered in this manner because most of them were involved in working while also studying and therefore were in a better position of knowing the numerous advantageous that are related to this practice. The language of possibility and modal verbs has been effectively used in this section. Most of the respondents respondent in this manner because they are examples of the benefits associated with working part-time while also studying. 4. Conclusion Based on the above information, it is a clear indication that there is need for all students to indulge in some par-time work while also undertaking their studies since the advantageous that are so far associated to this practice outweigh the disadvantageous. It is therefore prudent for all the concerned stakeholders to come up with effective modalities aimed at helping the students to work while studying. This is because as much as such a practice will help the students to gain more experience regarding their future jobs, it will also be beneficial to the entire country since there will be more personnel to undertake various jobs in the nation and thus leading to economic prosperity. Appendix 1: Questionnaire What is your general view regarding working part-time while studying? In your own opinion, is working part time advantageous or disadvantageous? What are the advantages associated with working on a part-time basis while studying? What are some of the perceived disadvantages associated with working part time while also studying? How many of your friends are working part-time while also studying? Works Cited Remenyi, D, 2007, ECEL: 2007: 6th European Conference on E-Learning, New York, Academic Conferences Limited. Perna, L, 2012, Understanding the Working College Student, New York, Stylus Publishing. Lu, T., 1993, Integrated Approach for Hybrid Shop Layout, New York, University of Maryland at College Park. Read More