Student and employee? The struggle of balancing paid work and university life

By Jaime Mccutcheon Temple

Undergraduate psychology student, University of Hertfordshire

This blog is inspired by my lab report supervised by Dr Bobbie Smith. 

From the very start of my university journey, I worked part-time alongside my full-time studies. It wasn't really a choice - without my job I would have struggled to afford essentials like the petrol needed to get to my lectures. I quickly became used to rushing straight from lectures to late shifts and often using days meant for independent study to work instead. I would make promises to myself that I’d catch up on revision or coursework later, but in reality, I was usually too tired to even spend time with friends and family, let alone focus on studying. 

Talking to friends made me realise that I wasn’t alone. In fact, I didn’t know a single person who didn’t have some kind of part-time job. This went beyond my small circle, with recent data from the Higher Education Policy Institute  highlighting that over half of UK university students now work during term-time. Since the UK entered a cost-of-living crisis in 2021, food, energy and housing costs have soared. With the average maintenance loan now falling £504 short of monthly expenses (Save the Student), it’s no surprise that working has become an essential part of university life. 

These everyday pressures inspired my final year dissertation, where I chose to explore the lived experiences of university students balancing paid employment alongside full time study. In this blog I want to share what I learned, in the hope of sparking conversation about the struggles many students are facing today, and what can be done to better support them to stay engaged in university life.  

The study

The study aimed to address the following research questions: What are the key challenges and benefits university students experience when balancing paid employment alongside a full-time higher education? How do university students perceive the role that paid employment may have on their academic performance and wellbeing? The study employed qualitative research methodology, utilising online semi structured interviews with a total of eleven students who were enrolled across various UK institution undergraduate degree programmes and in any form of paid employment. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA; Braun & Clarke, 2021). The themes and subthemes constructed are outlined below. To protect confidentiality, all participant names used are pseudonyms. 

‘Difficulties managing the juggling act’

Many spoke about how earning had to come first, whether that meant missing a friend’s birthday, putting off coursework, or revising on barely any sleep. This money didn’t seem like extra income, it was essential. On top of that, the quiet burden of employers who ‘pushed and pushed’ (Amelia) for extra shifts left students with a pressured choice: secure the pay they need, or sacrifice the little time meant for themselves or university work. Time after time, students suggested their schedules were dictated by their opportunities to work.

It’s hardly surprising that this constant juggling act of university commitments, employment hours and personal responsibilities took a toll on student’s wellbeing. Students weren’t just chasing wages, but as Nancy put it, ‘I always feel like I am chasing time’. This paradox captures the relentlessness of their realities. It was impossible to ignore how worry, stress, anxiety and tiredness ran through so many of the students' interviews.

Beyond the stress, part-time jobs seemed to carry another hidden cost: connection. The majority of students described missing out on university organised activities or socialising with peers due to their little time and energy. Emily admitted that she doesn't ‘have the energy to even respond’ to her friends' texts, whilst Millie explained ‘I don’t do anything that isn’t compulsory at uni because there just isn’t enough time’. It quickly became clear that taking on paid work squeezed the life out of the full university experience, and for many, reduced it to something purely academic. 

‘Gaining skills for future success’

Students felt that the skills they acquired through their part-time jobs, such as confident communication and the ability to work under pressure, would benefit them when they seek future career opportunities. Yet, what kept surfacing, louder than anything else, was how draining it can be balancing the dual roles of a student and employee.  

Why does this matter for student engagement?

This all matters because university should be more than a list of deadlines, it should feel like a place to belong, thrive and connect. It shouldn’t only be about survival. Yet, my research shows that growing financial pressures are pulling many students away from this sense of community. Instead of feeling part of something bigger, students start to see university as just another list of chores. If some are barely managing to attend lectures, how are they expected to join societies, go to university events or build real connections with their peers? This resonates with Tinto’s (1975) influential framework, enriching the wider debate that success in higher education depends on more than just grades. Belonging and connection matter just as much. 

In my study, all eleven students said that their main reason to work was due to financial need. Whilst the study didn’t have the scope to explore socioeconomic background in depth, it is naturally embedded that financial challenges are central to the difficulties students face in balancing work, study and connection. 

It's clear students want more from their university experience. Yet with unpredictable shifts and tight deadlines, even students who try to plan their time often miss out. Without finding more adaptive coping strategies to manage the balance of work and study, students are going to continue feeling like ‘getting by’ (Millie) and having an ‘it is what it is’ attitude (Theo) are the only options. 

If we want students to truly engage, we need to understand the whole picture and work together to find solutions that reflect the UK’s current cost of living challenges, which is not only shaping today's students' experiences but also the future of higher education as these challenges are likely to stay. These solutions might include exploring effective self-care strategies, increasing on campus work opportunities or offering clearer, more accessible support directed towards students who are taking on paid employment alongside their studies. It is important that university is a space that welcomes the realities of life beyond lecture rooms. 

If we truly listen and act on these challenges, we can protect what really matters: a university experience where every student can grow, not just in what they learn but as a person.