The impact of employment and domestic situations on student performance in introductory economics

Abstract

More time spent on paid and domestic work means less potential study time so students in employment and with domestic responsibilities may be at some disadvantage compared to full-time, unencumbered students. Previous studies of the impacts of paid employment on student results have not produced consistent evidence of positive or negative effects. This study extends such work to include the domestic situation and in particular the time spent on domestic work. Other social variables related to educational background and current living situation are included in the study in order to develop a more comprehensive model of the impact of study context on achievement. A model of the impact of social and cultural variables on student achievement in an introductory economics course at an Australian university is developed through a stepwise regression and some cross tabulated tables are used to further examine grade distributions. The model suggests that spending more time on paid and domestic work is positively correlated with higher achievement, as is having a permanent partner, although the model does not explain a lot of the overall variance in results. The variable of available study time per course being undertaken was not significant. Analysis of results by categories of work/study combinations suggests however, that there may be some polarisation in achievements within both employed and non-working student sub-groups.