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Working While Attending College

Elijah Kochenbach

Department of Business, University of Hawaii at Hilo

BUS 290: Critical Thinking

Professor Zenk

December 16, 2024

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Working While Attending College

Working a part-time job while attending college is common throughout the country. But

does working a job in college facilitate a student’s learning or hurt it? In this essay, I want to

highlight research supporting that working a part-time job while attending college tends to result

in higher-quality students.

As my first premise, I suggest that if employers want to hire high-quality students, they

should hire students who work while attending college. Perna and Odle (2020) found that

students who worked 15-20 hours per week performed better than students who did not work

(Perna & Odle, 2020). In another article, Tessema et al. (2014) argued that there was a link

between students who worked fewer than 10 hours and a positive effect on their satisfaction and

grade point average (Tessema et al., 2014). According to the data reviewed by the two sources

mentioned above, working a certain number of hours per week may increase a student’s

performance in school.

In my second premise, I feel that it is in the employer's best interest to hire students who

part-time jobs work while attending college because it would benefit them. Students learn

high-quality skills such as professionalism, teamwork, and work ethic from working jobs.

According to Newman University (NU) (2021), all these skills are sought after in the workplace

after college. When looking at what employers really value in the hiring process, according to

Douglas and Attewell (2019), experience in the job matters more than academic success

(Douglas & Attewell, 2019). Gaining the experience of working in their field of interest, getting

knowledge in working with others, and networking with other professionals could all be crucial

ways in which a student gains value from working. In addition, research from Berry College

(BC) (2020), shows that students who work while attending college see major benefits. Some of
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these benefits include offsetting college costs, gaining more experience, and networking with

others in their chosen field. It makes sense that working while attending college will result in

money earned that could be used towards the cost of school. It is not always the case, but the

experience from both attending college and working a job on the side could make you more

attractive to future employers. Specific job networking such as mentorship is a great way to

connect and learn from others relative to your career.

As a last premise, I will outline the attractiveness that a student who works while

attending college has with employers. Further research from Gray (2024), found that the benefits

mentioned above may make employers more likely to hire working students (Gray, 2024).

Employers look for many of the same high-quality skills that students who work and attend

college at the same time possess. If employers in future careers are more likely to hire students

with qualities that are exhibited from working while attending college, then it might make sense

for more students to work while attending college in order to boost their ability to get hired.

Conversely, one might object to my argument and instead say that high quality is a

subjective term. Meaning that you could still be of high quality even if you did not work while

attending college. I’d like to argue that although it is possible to still be considered high quality

with just schoolwork, working while attending college gives you certain qualities that are not

reflected in the same ways as most that just attend college. For example, you get to experience

what it is like to have a boss, follow directions, and get paid for doing so way before your career

is started. This is beneficial because you get to practice becoming a potentially productive

worker and learn valuable skills for the future.

Another common objection to my argument that working while attending college

produces high-quality students is that employers may not always hire “high-quality” students and
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instead hire students based on grades and the significance of their degrees. I would like to argue

that work experience, academic grades, and the significance of a degree combined would be

more valuable than just the diploma.

One counterargument may be that when working a job while attending college, there

could be little time to study. Even by working a part-time job, The College of St. Scholastica

(CSS) (2018), found that while attending college, you could forfeit time that could be used to

study and affect grades. Although this may be true for some students, I argue that if the student

has well enough time management skills, they can fit in time to both go to work and also get

schoolwork done in their free time.

Another counterargument that may be even more alarming is that worrying about work

and school at the same time could be too stressful. When outlining the pros and cons of working

while attending college, an article by The University of Arizona (UAGC) (2021), found that

students trying to complete every requirement for both work and school could be under too much

stress. In response to this, I say that again it would depend on the person. Stress, which occurs in

everyone’s lives at some point, does affect individuals differently. Stress can also be a motivator.

Developing the skill to not let work or school stress you out could benefit you greatly.

An additional counterargument is that it is not always the case that students who work

while attending college become higher quality. An article from the Chronicle of Higher

Education (CHE) (2013), found that internships and grades are what matter to employers. My

response to this is that internships, while not completely the same, could also be considered as

work. So when choosing to work while attending college or participate in an internship while in

college, you would still learn the high-quality benefits from both. Working a regular job while
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attending college may also condition you to be more comfortable in work settings such as an

internship.

A last common counterargument is that students who work while attending college do not

always become better-quality students in the short term, and those students will not graduate.

Employers are more likely to look for candidates with a degree than those without one. In a

recent finding by Munk, (2024), “Workers without degrees are not getting as many good job

offers as it seems.” (Munk, 2024). A response to this is that if working while attending college

affects a student's graduation, then it may not be worth it. However, it is also possible that in

special cases, an ex-student may still find a successful career not with a degree but instead with

their experience.

In conclusion, working while attending college produces high-quality students as long as

they work in a 10-20 hour per week range. Although there are sample studies on the adverse

effects of working while attending, it is unreasonable to say that each individual who works

while attending college will have the same result. Overall, each individual is different as some

may become high-quality students through working while others may fall and crumble. Working

while attending college may not be for everyone, but for those who can handle it, they will

become more successful. Working students, therefore, are better able to afford college, learn

self-discipline skills on the job, and have increased employment opportunities after college.
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References

Perna, L. W., & Odle, T. K. (2020b, February 6). Recognizing the reality of working college

students. American Association of University Professors.

https://www.aaup.org/article/recognizing-reality-working-college-students#:~:text=

Descriptive%20and%20correlational%20studies%20of,than%20twenty%20hours%

20per%20week

Tessema, M. T., Ready, K. J., & Astani, M. (2022, May 4). Does part-time employment

affect college student satisfaction and GPA?. Lumina Foundation.

https://www.luminafoundation.org/resource/does-part-time-employment-affect-coll

ege-students-satisfaction-and-gpa/

A look at Newman University’s academic schools. Newman University Magazine. (2021,

April 26). https://mag.newmanu.edu/academic-schools/

Douglas, D., & Attewell, P. (2019, December 10). The relationship between work during

college and Post College earnings. Frontiers in sociology.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8022698/#s4

Working in College: How Balancing Employment and Education Can Benefit Students.

Working in college: How balancing employment and education can benefit

students. (2020, October 30).

https://www.berry.edu/articles/blog/2020/benefits-of-working-in-college

Gray, K. (2024, January 16). The key attributes employers are looking for on graduates’

resumes. National Association of Colleges and Employers.

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https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/the-key-attributes-e

mployers-are-looking-for-on-graduates-resumes#:~:text=When%20asked%20what

%20attributes%20they,(See%20Figure%201.)

Working while in college: Weighing the Pros & Cons. The College of St. Scholastica.

(2023, December 20).

https://www.css.edu/about/blog/working-while-in-college-weighing-the-pros-cons/

The Pros and cons of working while in college. The University of Arizona Global Campus.

(2021, December 9).

https://www.uagc.edu/blog/pros-and-cons-working-while-college

The Employment Mismatch. The Chronicle of Higher Education. (2013, March 4).

https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-employment-mismatch/

Munk, C. W. (2024, February 20). Workers without degrees are not getting as many good

job offers as it seems. CNBC.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/19/job-posts-for-workers-without-degrees-are-boo

ming-but-not-the-hiring.html