Revista de Economía y Negocios

The Impact of Working While Studying on Educational and Labour Market Outcomes

Abstract

Sarah Jewell

As a result of the expansion of higher education and changes to student funding in the UK, students are increasingly taking up opportunities to work while studying. Employment during term-time may provide needed funds but takes time away from studying. It may also constitute an investment in ‘informal’ human capital, making graduates more attractive to potential employers. Given the ambiguous effect of working while studying, we investigate whether term-time employment has a detrimental impact on educational attainment and examine whether this is compensated by wage gains arising from transferable skills and work experience. Using survey data from a UK university, we find that students work more for financial than investment reasons and identify a negative effect of term-time employment for students working out of financial necessity or those working with a greater intensity. We find some evidence that individuals who have undertaken term-time employment have higher salaries upon graduation.