Juggling school and work and making the most of both

Young people who work during high school are undertaking a complex balancing act. How much work should they do? How can they balance the demands of homework and exams over and against the pressures of their part-time jobs? Will they be better off because they have gained work experience, or will their academic results suffer, leading them to miss out on future educational opportunities? The literature reviewed in this chapter summarizes results from quantitative studies over the past 20 years that have examined the implications of combining study and work during the high school years in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia. In summary, this literature reveals a conundrum: it appears on one hand that moderate to long hours of student part-time employment have negative impacts on academic outcomes, yet on the other hand student employment appears to have positive effects on the likelihood of being employed after leaving school. As discussed below, the scale of the phenomenon is substantial: statistics suggest that in Australia, the US and the UK, approximately one half of all senior-level students are working. With such high rates of student participation in part-time employment, the phenomenon deserves careful analysis to ascertain its impacts on young people. There is a clear need to develop and implement policies that will support young people who are attempting to balance the competing demands of study and work.