Researching the Effects of Working Full Time While in College

 Herman Low, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Psychology and minors in Biochemistry and French 

Three out of every four students work, and 20% of them at a full-time job. For my capstone project, I explored the negative effects of working while attending college. As a full-time student who also possesses a full-time job, I have felt overwhelmed and stressed from time to time. I have always accepted that I needed to work to pay my bills and also needed my degree. Before doing this project, the only reasonable thing for me to do was to suck it up and deal with it.

From my capstone project titled “The Efficiency of Financial Aid”, I learned that many other students share the same experience as me; some of them have it even worse. I learned that many of these stresses are caused by an inter-role conflict called work-school conflict (WSC). It is when an individual deems work as interfering with their education. If left unattended, WSC can cause detrimental effects on an individual's mental health.

As common as it is, the negative effects of work on college students are often overlooked, and there has been limited research done on this topic. I wish to learn more about WSC, its effect, and ways to tackle it. I also hope that my research can be used to bring importance to WSC so there will be more help available for students who experience WSC.

Last but not least, I envision that one day my research can be used to support campaigns that fight for affordable college tuition, higher education funding, or financial aid so that students will no longer have to worry about working full-time just to afford college.