Coping experiences of graduate students on full-time employment and full-time academic programmes

ABSTRACT

There are full-time employed graduate students who undertake full-time studies at universities in other countries but there is minimal documentation of such engagements in Ghana. This study explored the coping experiences of full-time workers who are pursuing full-time graduate studies in a Ghana higher institution. Purposeful sampling was deployed to recruit ten graduate students from whom information was gathered using one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Findings from the study revealed that the participants’ inability to secure financial support for their studies and the need to consolidate their jobs were the key factors influencing their decision to combine full-time study and work. Results also showed that flexitime arrangements served as the best strategy for coping with the two full-time endeavours. Additional results indicated that focusing on one role at the expense of the other and some form of subtle support from superiors were motivators for the study subjects to cope with the dual roles. Moreover, it was apparent that these full-time working-students often experience compelling challenges as a result of their engagement which are potential reasons for employment dishonesty among such employees. The findings of this study are important for consideration among higher educational institutions, employers, policymakers, graduate students, and others.

KEYWORDS:

• Adult education
• coping experiences
• graduate students
• full-time employment
• academic programmes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samuel Amponsah

Dr Samuel Amponsah is a Senior Lecturer with a demonstrated history of working at all levels of education. He is the Acting Head of University of Ghana’s Distance Education Department. He holds a Doctor of Education degree from the University of South Africa. Before joining the University of Ghana, Amponsah lectured at Esayidi TVET in South Africa and headed the Farming Management Department. Samuel’s areas of research interest are distance and online learning and adult learning. He is a fellow of the Global Challenges Research Fund and currently on a departmental project investigating the adult learning needs of Ghanaian adult learners.

Alex Kumi-Yeboah

Dr Alex Kumi-Yeboah is an Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, School of Education at the University at Albany. His research interests include examining mediating cross-cultural factors that impact on the educational advancement of immigrant students. He also studies multicultural contexts in online education.

Stephen O. Adjapong

Mr Stephen O. Adjapong is a PhD candidate at the University of Professional Studies, Accra. As a professional educationist and a quality manager, he is interested in the management of adult learners in their quest for higher education while working simultaneously.

Chris Olusola Omorgie

Dr Chris Olusola Omorgie is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Adult Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He holds a PhD in Education with specialization in Philosophical foundations of Adult Education and Lifelong Learning having graduated with a BA in Philosophy and M.Ed. Adult Education from the same University.  He obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the National Teachers Institute. He has served as a member of the consultancy team to All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPPS) between 2009 to 2011. That afforded him the opportunity for the training of all principals in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.