Background

One of the disadvantages of being a student while holding a job is that they are often short on time and commonly find themselves with limited time to study, sleep, and maintain healthy eating habits. In a study conducted by Gorgulho, et al., one of the main complaints among working students is that they find themselves without enough time to eat right (Gorgulho, et al., 2012). Instead of consuming healthy foods, such as fruit and whole grains, working students often grab a quick meal comprised of low quality foods that contain sugar and high sodium (Gorgulho, et al., 2012). This is not to say that students should feel discouraged and not work while in college, but instead be mindful of the commitment and plan accordingly. For example, students who work everyday might benefit from a 7 day food preparation technique at the beginning of every week.

If poor eating habits continue over an extended period of time, this will increase the risk of obesity and the development of lifestyle related chronic diseases (Huang, et al., 2003). Huang’s study on obesity, diet, and physical activity among college students indicates that an estimated 35% of college students are at risk for being overweight (Huang, et al., 2003). Low levels of physical activity and poor nutrition are common reasons for this high incidence rate. While it may not seem of importance to working students while in college, the negative outcomes will prove to be a growing concern as they get older. Quality of diet is a matter of lifestyle change and can be easily improved, while managing diseases and major health concerns later in life may not easily improve one’s health.

Many researchers focus on working after higher education but little research the effects of working while in higher education. Recently, higher education has been increasing tuition and other costs that go into attending college. This has had an effect on students. Mainly, they are looking for jobs while in school to help cushion some of those costs and everyday expenses. In Moris Triventi’s study, he looked into the effect of working in higher education. He found that working at low-intensity had positive effects but higher-intensity jobs, 35 hours or more per week, tended to have negative effects. Some of the positive effects are increased independence, ability to budget, managing a schedule, and gaining soft skills, such as communication and problem-solving skills. Some of the negative effects are higher risk of dropping out, delayed graduation rates, and negative effects on academic performance. He found that full-time workers tend to have less time for academic studies and school activities. Non-workers average 17.0 hours of studying per week and part-time and full-time workers study 15.7 hours a week. Full-time workers also attend class less time per week. Part-time workers in this study were able to deal with the effects of working while in school (Triventi, 2014).

In Rajeev Darolia’s study, there was a correlation between number of credits completed and number of hours worked per week. This study states that 80 percent of students work at some point in their undergraduate program and numbers of hours worked per week increases each year. Some students take fewer credits due to work commitments. Part-time and full-time students tend to spend less time studying (Darolia, 2014). This can lead to delayed graduation dates and more debt from more years of schooling. The time-to-degree ratio is higher, which in turn costs the students less future earnings. The study points out the negative effect of working to be lack of time for school-based activities and leisure activities, which can help with overall health (Darolia, 2014).

These articles helped by guiding us to ask questions about how many hours the participants work per week and how many credits they were taking. Then, we can correlate their hours of work to their grade point average, (GPA). This is to see if lower intensity work would aid or hinder academic performance.

Money is the main key in college in which students acquire tremendous amount of debt to pay off. Many college students work while attending school which in return has an affect. A recent article has shown that there is a psychological and physical toll that takes upon student who try to juggle both. From working and attending school, stress becomes the main setback in which affects their academic performances. Taking a survey of 225 participants of student, it showed that stress was a main cause for these student which caused emotional and physical exhaustion. Our survey tries to study how students deal with stress when they work or not work while attending school. Stress plays the main role in all factors for these students attending a university (“Optimism and Risk for Job Burnout”,2015).

Sleep is one constant that college students lack. A recent article shows that 50% of student surveyed at a university is sleep deprived. An average amount of students has a range of from difficultly falling asleep to difficulty staying asleep. This lack of sleep syndrome is known has sleep phase syndrome is an important problem students face at school which affects them from a range of academic performance. Sleep is a necessity but the life style college students acquire from coming into universities affects them severely. Our survey shows how lack of sleep can affect student from grades to their diet (“Delayed Sleep and Sleep Loss in University Students”,2015).