INTRODUCTION

A relatively large amount of adolescents hold a part-time job while they are attending school. However, concerns regarding declining standards of academic excellence suggest reason for alarm at growing levels of employment among youth. This project will attempt to find whether a correlation exists between students who have a part-time job obtain lower grades versus students who do not hold a part-time job.

AREA OF CONCERN

Many adolescents need to procure a part-time job, while they are in school, to earn money for many different reasons. A problem arises when working takes time away that would otherwise be used for schoolwork and/or sleep. The issue that will be examined in this paper is the negative effect of having a part-time job on a student s grades. This research is significant because more and more students are entering the job market. It is very important that parents, employers and the students themselves are aware of the potential consequences of having a part-time job during school. The results can help determine possible methods of eliminating the deterrent aspects of having a job while in school.

HYPOTHESIS AND NULL HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis of this research is that working a part-time job will negatively effect a student s grades. Furthermore, we expect that the students who work the most amounts of hours a week will have lower grades than students who work fewer hours a week. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference in the grades of students with a part-time job and in those of the students without a part-time job. In addition, the number of hours worked has no significance in the grades the students, with a part-time job, receive.

LITERATURE REVIEW

SCOIAL SIGNIFICANCE

Adolescents in our society are instructed that an education is a relatively crucial component in succeeding in life. The principle objective of going to school is to acquire significant knowledge to help achieve future goals. A substantial effort is given from the students who want to obtain good grades. Another major part of an adolescent s life is part-time employment. Most students procure a job to pay for a multitude of things. These two primary elements of an adolescent s life may produce many conflicting issues. Does the amount of time a full-time student works at a part-time job affect his/her grade point average? It is these kinds of issues that are very socially significant and that students, researchers, educators, and policy-makers are concerned about.

This is a relatively new research idea. It has just been during the past decade that there has been a large increase in the number of students that hold part-time jobs (Conseil Permenant de la Jeunesse, 1992). In the past, it was rare that adolescents would go to school; they worked full-time to help support the family. As the industrial revolution progressed, in urban societies, school started to be obligatory and also there was a greater necessity for adolescents in the job market (Audet, 1995). Since 1980, the amount of adolescents who hold part-time jobs has increased by 500% for the boys and 1100% for girls. In addition, now around half the number of high school students has a part-time job (Conseil Superieur de L Education, 1992).

RELEVANT THEORIES

The main theory relevant to the investigation of my research question is that essentially, working at a part-time job while in school can effect your grades (Audet, 1995; D Amico, 1984; Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1991; Riscoe, Morgan & Peebles, 1996; Lenarduzzi & McLaughlin, 1996). The reason for this as Marsh (1991) explains, is working apparently detracts from investment in or commitment to, the school, which is why working has so many negative affects. This conclusion should not be translated to mean that the time spent working necessarily reduces the time available for schoolwork, however, because students who worked and saved their money for school actually spent more time on homework (Steinberg, Fegley & Dornbusch, 1993). Hunter (1985) observed that work affects a student s mental health and that fatigue is present in many working adolescents. Likewise, according to Bachman and Schulenberg (1993) students who work too many hours a week suffer from exhaustion and stress and it is difficult to behave acceptably at school and with peers. Therefore, the principle focus of the debate over the employment of students should specifically be on the number of hours students work each week, because the negative correlation of employment are related to the amount of time spent in the labour force (Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1991). D Amico (1984) found that nearly all of the detrimental effects of student employment are associated with very intensive work involvement. An extreme amount of time and effort at work will have an unfavourable consequence on your grades. As the Quebec Government states, the more time you spend working at a part-time job, the less time you have to do school work and the less you feel like doing schoolwork. When a student works numerous hours a day they are tired and have difficulty concentrating in school and therefore, their grades will reflect that situation (Conseil Superieur de L Education, 1992).

The principle base of these studies is fundamentally very similar. Working and going to school may effect your academic progress. Ordinarily, the more time you spend working at a part-time job presents a negative outcome to your grades. This is a result of spending insufficient amount of time on schoolwork and not being enthusiastic about spending the day in school after working (Conseil Superieur de L Education, 1992; Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1991; Bachman & Schulenberg, 1993; D Amico, 1984).

CURRENT LITERATURE

Current research on working and going to school, confirm that the amount of time spent on a part-time job is correlated with students grades. On one hand, youth work seems to facilitate young people s work habits promotes some financial independence from parents and for girls, foster greater feelings of self-reliance. On the other hand, youth work can have a negative impact on schoolwork and on adolescent social and career development (Safyer, Hawkins & Colan, 1995). One study suggested three principle findings that run somewhat counter to popular impressions about working students. First, students who work do not seem to suffer academically compared to those who do not work; as measured by GPAs, cutting class, and being late to class, students are much alike, regardless of their work experience. However, there were noted two exceptions: those who work 20 hours per week or more do have lower GPAs, and those who work primarily to save for school have higher GPAs (Ruscoe, Morgan & Peebles, 1996).

The 20-hour cut off point seems to be especially important. Lenarduzzi and McLaughlin (1996) had similar outcomes with their analysis. They found that working fewer than 10 hours per week has small adverse effects on each measure. Students working from 10 to 20 hours per week have a lower grade point average. Working over 20 hours per week had depressed test scores and grade point averages compared to other students who worked less or did not work. In addition, McNeal (1997) found that job type has a big influence on student s outcome in school and on the rate of dropping out. The number of hours worked and the type of job contribute to reducing school commitment, which in turn fosters misconduct, fatigue and most importantly lower grades (Wright, Cullen & Williams, 1997).

Ultimately, having a part-time job while you are in school does not inevitably have to negatively effect your grades. A student must ascertain control over the amount of time spent working at a part-time job because the more you work, the greater effect it will have on your grades (D Amico, 1984; Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1991; Ruscoe, Morgan & Peebles, 1996; Lenarduzzi & McLaughlin, 1996). To succeed in school, a student must be willing to give an extra amount of effort. If there is something that impedes that effort, such as working to many hours a week, it will cause some negative consequences. As time goes by, more and more students will be entering the job market. Hence, a greater effort should be expended to integrate work and school experience more fully so the work experience is perceived to be a natural extension of school (McNeal, 1997).

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

The independent variable is the average amount of hours worked in a week during a school term. The hours worked means time spent on a part-time job away from schoolwork. The dependent variable is the academic achievement. This variable is defined as the student s grade point average, for a full course load, during the same school term.

METHODOLOGY

PARTICIPANTS & SELECTION PROCEDURES

The participants in this research are sixty high school students. Before the subjects were selected, the relevant extraneous variables were considered. Some students may have easier course load or individual classes. This was eliminated by using students from a high school and with the same classes. A different neighbourhood or environment between subjects may effect the reason of going to school and working. This was controlled, in the small sample, by choosing students from the same school. A difference in age and gender may trigger some pre-determined expectations and limitations that influence the choice of employment between subjects. Picking students of the same age and having the same amount of males as females was used to control that dilemma.

The subjects that were used in this research was sixty high school students (30 male & 30 female) from Lindsay Place High School, in Pointe-Claire, and all between the ages of 16-17. Non-probability sampling strategies were used. The first is convenience sampling. It was very convenient to choose these students because the high school was close to home. Quota sampling was also used. People with the required characteristics (student aged 16-17) were selected but not randomly selected from the population. The questionnaire was distributed to thirty males and thirty females in grade 11.

RESEARCH DESIGN & DATA COLLECTION PLANS

The research design that was used is a correlation design. The main issue analysed was the relationship between number of hours worked and the student s grades. This is due to the research hypothesis, which is that because part-time employment takes time away from your schoolwork we should see lower grades for students who work. Furthermore, it was expected that the students who work the most amounts of hours a week would have lowest grades than students who work fewer hours a week.

The independent variable is the average amount of hours worked in a week during the given period. The hours worked is defined as the time spent on a part-time job away from schoolwork and this will be interpreted from particular questions on the questionnaire. The principle dependent variable is the academic achievement. This variable is defined as the student s grade point average, for the given period.

It is known that part-time employment takes time away from a student, which could be used to carry out schoolwork. This research could demonstrate that this reduction in time to do school work could directly cause a reduction in grade point average. However, this research was not designed to determine the reason why the students work or need money and also why they are going to school and what they are expecting from school. Since the answers to these questions are relevant and may effect the results, they should be looked at in the future experiments. The instruments that are used actually measure what is needed to be measured.

DATA ANALYSIS

Firstly, the results of the questionnaire were used to observe if there is a significant relationship between working and grades. The 60 results of the different questions on the questionnaire were analysed. Both variables are measured on a ratio scale. The relationship is monatomic and Pearsons Correlation will be performed to assess the statistical significance of the results.

The data will be demonstrated on many different graphs and charts. Some of the different relationships that are displayed are:

h Number of males who have part-time jobs compared to females

h If working students have lower grades than non-working students

h Number of hours worked compared to grades obtained

h Reasons for working and grades

These are the most predominant relationships analysed in the research. With the results, it will be easy to interpret the significance of part-time employment for students and their grades received.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Audet, M. (1995). L occupation d un emploi durant les etudes: les caracteristique, les effets et l evolution de la situation au cours de la derniere decennie. Quebec, QC: Gouvernement du Quebec.

Bachman, J., & Schulenberg, J. (1993). How Part-Time Work Intensity Relates to Drug Use, Problem Behavior Kor Merely Correlates? Developmental Psychology, 29, 220-235.

Conseil Permenant de la Jeunesse. (1992). Eleves au Travail. Quebec, QC: Gouvernement du Quebec.

Conseil Superieur de L Education. (1992). Le Travail Remunere des Jeunes: Vigilance et Accompagnement Educatif. Quebec, QC: Gouvernement du Quebec.

D Amico, R. (1984). Does Employment during High School Impair Academic Progress? Sociology of Education, 57, 152-164.

Hunter, F. (1985). Adolescent Perception of Discussions with Parents and Friends. Developmental Psychology, 21, 433-440.

Lenarduzzi, G., & McLaughlin, T. (1996). Working on Grade Point Average, Test Accuracy, and Attendance of High School Students. Psychological Reports, 78,41-42.

Marsh, H. (1991). Employment During High School: Character Building or a Subversion of Academic Goals? Sociology of Education, 64, 172-189.

McKechnie, J., Lindsay, S., Hobbs, S., & Lavalette, M. (1996). Adolescents Perceptions of the Role of Part-Time Work. Adolescence, 31, 193-196.

McNeal, R. 1997). Are Students Being Pulled Out of High School? The Effect of Adolscent Employment on Dropping Out. Sociology of Education, 70, 206-220.

Ruscoe, G., Morgan, J., & Peebles, C. (1996). Students who Work. Adolescence, 31, 625-628.

Safyer, A., Leahy, B., & Colan, N. (1995). The Impact of Work and Adolescent Development. Families in Society, 76, 38-46.

Steinberg, L., & Dornbusch, S. (1991). Negative Correlates of Part-Time Employment During Adolescence: Replication and Elaboration. Developmental Psychology, 27, 304-313.

Steinberg, L., Fegley, S., & Dornbusch, S. (1993). Negative Impact of Part-Time Work on Adolescent Adjustment: Evidence From a Longitudinal Study. Developmental Psychology, 29, 171-180.

Wright, J., Cullen, F., & Williams, N. (1997). Working While in School and Delinquent Involvement: Implications for Social Policy. Crime & Delinquency, 43, 203-221.