Abstract

Full-time students engaged in part-time studies have been a subject of increasing academic attention. This study extends work in this area by examining: the extent to which full-time undergraduate students undertake part-time employment, the reasons for working whilst studying full-time and the extent to which students relate their part-time employment to full-time study, and to their future career aspirations. The results indicated that the majority of students now undertake part-time work, with the principal motivating factor to be financial necessity, with a smaller number seeking to gain experience to support their studies. This study has also uncovered the potential of the measuring scale developed and used. Good reliability and validity measures were reported and factor analysis indicated that the scale loaded on two factors: ‘aspirational’ (long-term) and ‘functional’ (short-term). The implications of findings for students, universities and employers are discussed as well as suggestions for future research direction.