Part-time jobs hurting students’ academic performance, profs say
September 20, 2010
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Kristin Rushowy
EDUCATION REPORTER
University students struggle to keep up in school because of part-time jobs, according to almost two-thirds of Ontario professors who took part in an online poll.
“Students are coming to class unprepared, they have work obligations, so they’re not able to do the readings or get assignments in properly,” said Mark Langer, a professor at Carleton University who is also president of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, which conducted the informal survey.
“I had a student fall asleep in class — now I know in some cases it may be because of a kegger the night before, but I’ve had students come and cry in my office about the fact that they are exhausted in class, trying to keep up with work but they need a job to stay in school.”
Sixty-four per cent of those who responded to the survey agreed that paid work is hindering students’ academic success.
More than one-third of professors and university librarians also believe that students are working more part-time hours than they were a year ago.
“This is really a report from the front lines, by the people who are actually in the classrooms in universities, teaching, doing research and this is what they are saying,” said Langer.
Alexi White, executive director of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, said past research has shown that the number of hours students work does impact grades.
Students who work in first year are also less likely to enrol in second year, data show.
“Your work life is not as flexible as your academic life,” said White, who just graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston and held down a part-time job.
“When stuff gets hard and you need to do your school work but you have this job that you have to go to, what do you do? Pay the bills or focus on school?”
A national survey of students found that just under half work during the school year, and they work an average of 17 hours each week.
Langer said students are caught in a bind because they need those jobs to cover the rising cost of tuition. In Ontario, the average cost of tuition is $6,300 a year — the highest in Canada.
“Back when I went to university (starting in 1968), tuition was $400-something a year and there were enough jobs around that you could work during the summer and that would keep you going throughout the rest of the year,” said Langer. “Students now don’t have that. The employment possibilities are not what they were, and the costs of going to university have gone up exponentially.”
The provincial faculty group received 1,400 online responses from faculty and librarians at all Ontario universities between March 10 and April 17 of this year.