Balancing paid work and studies: working (‐class) students in higher education

Abstract

Engagement in paid work during term‐time amongst undergraduates in England has increased in recent years, reflecting changes in both higher education funding and labour market policy. This article draws on research with students in a post‐1992 university to explore undergraduate students’ accounts of combining work and study during term‐time and the various strategies they employ in their attempts to balance the two. Many of the students in this study may be described as ‘non traditional’ entrants, and attention is paid to the ways in which students’ accounts reflect issues of social class. It is argued that the transfer of responsibility for funding university study from the state to the individual student and their families, and the lack of attention paid to the demands of term‐time work in higher education and institutional policy, risks reinforcing and exacerbating inequalities.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Becky Francis and the two anonymous referees for very helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.