HEALTH ISSUES AMONG WORKING STUDENTS

Review of Related Literature and Studies

The majority of college students have jobs, and the effects of student work on mental

have been thoroughly studied. On the other hand, the effects of this labor on other facets of

students' life have not been thoroughly studied. What issues and problems encountered by the

working students in terms of their academic performances? This is only one question that will be

answered on this study. We used our methodological approach of student-driven research and a

quantitative analysis, we find that different effects of working while studying effects on students'

lives: it makes students' schedules less flexible, making them more susceptible to emergencies; it

makes financial calculations more difficult for students to do; it can negatively affect students'

mental and social lives; and, in spite of these negative effects, students find work to be fulfilling.

This study makes use of the Moral Responsibility Theory of P.F. Strawson,

Sociobiology Theory of Edward Wilson, and the Existential Theory by Soren Kierkegaard and

Friedrich Nietzsche The Moral Responsibility Theory of P.F. Strawson published in 1962

presents the consequences of each action in the pros and cons result. It can be defined in

Philosophy as the status of morally worthy praise, reward, blame, or punishment for an act

performed or Neglected by one's moral obligations accompanied by the three essential elements:

accountability, freedom, and results that can be either praiseworthy or blameworthy. This theory

shapes the pros and cons of the life experiences of working students. As indicated by Watts and

Pickering (2000), working part-time and studying full-time has a variety of positive outcomes

and respondents generally viewed part-time employment as a necessity to survive in the

contemporary higher education sphere. However, the student might experience under pressure

due to demands in academics such as completing the tasks in the given time and instability

regarding finances. The work plus studies make these hardworking students sleep deprived, and
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sleep deprivation increases the risk factors of insomnia and damage to brain function. Working

students exposed to excessive workload despite the satisfactory salary will have bad effects on

health and wellbeing in the long run.

Working students' college experiences are explored in a study using the grounded

theory approach. Students engaged in part-time and sometimes full-time employment while

studying is becoming a normal phenomenon everywhere. Job employment will eventually

prepare the students for their future profession. While ordinary experiences will comprise the

majority of the data content of this study, these data will be analyzed and justified using

particular theories.

It is important to understand how work demands impact working college

students' mental and physical health because student health is associated with academic

measures. For example, worse psychological health, such as greater levels of psychological

symptoms, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, substance use, emotional problems, and

hopelessness; and

decreased levels of social functioning and mental health were associated with worse GPA,

decreased student engagement, decreased college persistence, and program completion

(Billingsley & Hurd, 2019; De Luca et al., 2016, Carney, McNeish, & McColl, 2005; Horton,

2015; McMahon et al., 2011; Raskind, Haardörfer, & Berg, 2019, Oswalt & Wyatt, 2011; Smith,

Jaurique, & Ryan, 2016, Vaez & Laflamune, 2008, Wyatt & Oswalt, 2013). Further, greater

stress is associated frequently with decreased GPA, student engagernent, college persistence,

and completion of an academic program (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003; Bachrach & Read, 2012:

Elias, Ping, & Abdullah, 2011; Johnson et al., 2013; Oswalt & Wyatt, 2011; Raufelder et al.,
 HEALTH ISSUES AMONG WORKING STUDENTS

2013; Schraml et al., 2012; Sohail, 2012; Stewart et al., 1999, Vaez & Laflamme, 2008). In

addition, greater self-reported physical health, general health and pain, headaches, abdominal

pain, and physical problems were associated with worse GPA, student engagement, academic

persistence, and program completion (Carney, McNeish, & McColl, 2005, Grimby-Ekman et al.,

2018, Horton, 2015; Smith, Jaurique, & Ryan, 2016; Vaez & Laflamme, 2008). Moreover, poor

sleep was associated with declines in academic measures, with numerous studies having found

aspects of sleep, including later sleep onset, shorter sleep length/duration, greater sleep

irregularity, increased daytime sleepiness, poorer overall sleep quality, and more sleep problems

all had been associated with decreased GPA, student engagement, and study concentration

(Dunbar, Mirpuri, & Yip, 2017, Howell, et al., 2004; Medeiros et al., 2001, Miller, Danner, &

Staten, 2008; Pagel, Forister, & Kwiatkowki, 2007; Singelton & Wolfson, 2009; Talib & Zia-ur-

Rehman, 2012: Vander

Heijden et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2003). This study aimed to contribute to the

existing literature on how work demands influence health and how health affects the relationship

between work demands and academic measures. In addition, the research examines how health

factors

influenced study hours and credits completed, which is sparse in the literature. Beyond just

student work demands, psychosocial factors such as a sense of belonging and perceived

injustice contribute to academic measures and health, and health may indirectly affect the

relationship between psychosocial factors and academic measures in working college students.

Pascarella and Padgett (in Lederman 2009), sought to examine the effects of work

on academic performance and observed how students who devoted their time into on- and off-
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campus work contributed on the students critical thinking, moral reasoning, socially responsible

leadership, and mental well-being. Results revealed that working 20 hours and more had a

positive effect on students' psychological well-being, and students who worked off campus also

trended positively on leadership skills. Work did not have much bad effect on cognitive type of

outcomes like moral reasoning and critical thinking, but work has a positive result on things like

psychological well-being and leadership even when one is working a ton of hours.

Findings further showed that there were significant differences in the impact on

students who came into college with different academic abilities, with much more can cause

harm to students who scored lower on college entrance exams. Working on campus between 1-

10 hours a week had a positive effect on critical thinking for high-ability students but a strong

negative effect forlow-ability student.

According to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), around 216,000

students

in the country are currently misrepresenting school and work and this figure is about 8%

of the total number of college students in the country. CHED said that working students today

are mostly into food service, entertainment and sales, apart from their usual stints as librarians

and

research assistants. "One of the reasons why students need an extra income is due to a financial

crisis," according to officer-in-charge at CHED's office of the executive director, Atty.Julito

Vitriolo. He also added that because of higher commodity prices and tuition fees, these students

are forced to work independently. The CHED stated that only half of working students get to
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finish college, as many cannot adapt and cannot concentrate on their studies, while some have

poor health, while others didn't continue because of financial problems. CHED

recommended working students to have jobs that are not too demanding and that is more related

to their courses so that they can work comfortably.

In the study of Fjorto (1995), reported that "the student who devotes more time to

employment, the less he or she has for either academic or social activities.” Some studies have

looked at the effects of working on social and academic integration or student engagement. This

concept is an important component in student’s behavior theory (Bean, 1985; Pascarella &

Staver, 1985; Tinto, 1975) that has long been linked with perseverance (Kuh, 1995; Pascarella &

Terrenzini, 1983). Richard (2004), emphasized that information about students is important but

time-consuming to manage and it is the most essential tool that will be used to help both staff

and students cope up with their work and studies. The Cambridge Student Information System

(CAMSIS) replaced various student records system used by the colleges, departments, and

universities. CAMSIS provides comprehensive and accurate information about the student’s

body and also improves data quality, reduce the administrative burden dramatically and provides

better services to both academic staff and students. Another benefit lies in the feeling of self-

achievement and self-satisfaction that is achieved through challenging oneself with double the

workload and two different lifestyles. It is all about pushing oneself to the limits and proving to

the world that one can manage their time in the best possible way and make the most of it by

working and studying at the same time. It also believed that such an attitude reflects the abilities

of hard work and determination in people, which are qualities that every firm generally looks for.
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Whether it is about financial considerations or future employability prospects,

Alli

(2010), stressed that the combination of working and studying together is the key to success and

is the foundation on which one's future and career depends. The evidence suggests that the

effects of working while in college vary by the type of job held: full-time versus part-time, and

on-campus versus off-campus. Harmful effects typically arise because hours spent at work take

time away from studying which may lead to lower grades and less attractive post-college

opportunities. Working may contribute to students dropping out of college or taking a little bit

more time to graduate. But student employment can also be a positive experience. For example,

some workers may gain experience from their job that helps them in the classroom or in the labor

market environment after college. Oncampus jobs may also build connections to academic

departments or the community at large, which in turn may make students more likely to stay in

school (Orszag et al., 2001).

Watanabe (2005), determined the effects of college student's employment on

academic performances. Findings revealed that college student's employment did not affect

academic achievement. This finding is surprising considering the amount of research that has

found many positive and negative significant factors affecting academic achievement while

being employed. The study did not contribute to both the positive or negative relationship

between working and the succession of the academic aspect. Pike in Lederman (2009), found

that there are several amounts of on and off-campus work that directly influenced students' self-

reported grades and indirectly affected their levels of engagement in academic activities.
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Working more than 20 hours a week hurts students' grades, whether the employment is on

campus or off.

As reported, students who work 20 hours or less, on and off campus have similar

grades as do students who do not work at all. The indirect relationships between employment and

grades, as indicated by students' levels of engagement in "educationally purposeful activities,"

are more complicated. Students who work 20 hours or less a week on campus report higher

levels on all five levels of engagement used. Moreover, working 20 hours or less off- campus

strengthens students' performance on two of the five engagement levels, whereas students who

work 20 hours or more, on or off-campus did tend to be more engaged than students who did not

work at all.