Working Students: Educational Success and Subjective Well-being

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of students who combine study with work. This requires special attention of universities to such students and updates the study of educational success factors. The study is relevant as considers working students as subjects of learning and life, from the standpoint of personal and professional development experience acquired at the university, involvement in the educational process, satisfaction with learning, and well-being.

The purpose of the empirical study is to identify the features of educational experience, subjective well-being and self-change potential among working students. The study involves 290 students of bachelor and specialist programs from five universities. The sample includes students who work for more than half a year (N=95), work from time to time (N=90) and study only (N=105). The results showed that the educational experience is most formed among those students who combine their studies with work in the specialty which is being received at the university. Long-term and occasionally working students differ from non-working students by a higher desire to participate in developmental activities, confidence in their ability to successfully solve the problems of learning and social interaction, self-directed learning skills, tendency to analyze and self-control their learning.

Also, working students are superior to those who are just studying in the self-change potential and the subjective well-being level. It is concluded that the success and well-being of working students are largely determined by their resources of subjectness and aspiration for development. This allows them to function successfully, combining educational and labor activities as two areas of experience accumulation. Directions for improving university practice in terms of creating conditions for the educational success of working students are proposed.

1. Roshchin, S.Yu., Rudakov, V.N. (2014). Combining Work and Study by Russian Higher Education Institution Students. Voprosy Obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. Vol. 2, pp. 152-179, doi: 10.17323/1814-9545-2014-2-152-179 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

2. Bolotin, I.S., Pugach, V.F., Mikhailov, A.A., Smirnova, T.S., Sorokina, N.D. (2016). Features of Combining Studies of Students in High School and Work: The Results of Applied Research. Innovacii v grazhdanskoj aviacii [Innovations in civil aviation]. No. 3, pp. 44-56. Available at: https:// www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=27378524 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

3. Tsyganenko, N.V. (2021). Academic Performance of Working Students. Obrazovanie i problemy razvitiya obshchestva [Education and problems of social development]. Vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 113-120. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=47411174 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

4. Muradova, E.I. (2015). Working Student as a New Challenge for Higher Education. Sovet rektorov [Council of Rectors]. No. 9, pp. 56-61. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=27225000 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ.).

5. Tsvetkova, N.A., Petrova, E.A., Savchenko, D.V. (2022). Socio-psychological Peculiarities of Working Students: Personal Orientation, Life Position, Polycommunicative Empathy. Perspektivy nauki i obrazovania = Perspectives of Science and Education. Vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 444-462, doi: 10.32744/pse.2022.1.28 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

6. Retivina, V.V. (2019). Labor Values and Attitudes of Modern Students. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 57-63, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2019-28-1-57-63 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

7. Gorkovaya, I.A., Miklyaeva, A.V. (2021). [The Resilience of Employed students: Gender Perspective]. In: Sovremennoe sostoyanie i perspektivy razvitiya psikhologii truda i organizatsionnoi psikhologii [The Current State and Prospects for the Development of Labor Psychology and Organizational Psychology]. Moscow: Institute of Psychology RAS Publ., pp. 625-637. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=47694249 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

8. Zaborova, E.N., Myltasova O.V. (2018). [Working Student in Modern Higher School] In: Vishnevskii Yu.R., Narkhov D.Yu. (Eds). Ne rasstanus’ s molodezh’yu, budu... : sbornik nauchnykh statei k 80-letiyu professora Yu R. Vishnevskogo [I Will Not Part with the Youth, I Will ... : a collection of scientific articles for the 80th anniversary of Professor Yu.R. Vishnevsky]. Yekaterinburg: Ural University Publ., pp. 202-213. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=32794211 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

9. Zhelnina, E.V., Papchikhina, M.A. (2019). Social Portrait of a Modern Working Student: a Sociological Analysis. Nauchnyj vektor Balkan = Scientific vector of the Balkans. No. 3(3), pp. 59–66, doi: 10.34671/SCH.SVB.2019.0303.0015 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

10. Yanbarisova, D.M. (2014). Work While Studying at the Universities of Tatarstan: Does it Affect Academic Performance? Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 1, pp. 217-237, doi: 10.17323/1814-9545-2014-1-218-237 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

11. Koropets O.A., Balandina T.Yu., Gafurova T.R. (2020). Pedagogical Support for Working Students with Burnout Syndrome. Global’nyi nauchnyi potentsial [Global Scientific Potential]. No. 1(106), pp. 86-90. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=42600498 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ.).

12. Ksenafontova, A.N. (2014). Features of Self-awareness of Working Students. Molodezh’. Obrazovanie. Nauka [Youth. Education. Science]. Vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 186-189. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=32724100 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ.).

13. Artemeva, V.A., Veselova, E.K., Dvoretskaya, M.Ya., Korzhova E.Yu. (2018). Social Responsibility and Personal Innovativeness of Working and Non-working Students. Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta = Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. Vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 73-90, doi: 10.15293/2226-3365.1805.05 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

14. Chechurova, Yu.Yu. (2019). Valuable Determinants Representations about the Quality of Life of Students. Vestnik Tverskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Nauki ob obshchestve i gumanitarnye nauki [Bulletin of the Tver State Technical University. Series: Social Sciences and Humanities]. No. 1(16), pp 71-79. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=38061124 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

15. Godunova, A.D. (2015). Motivational Characteristics of Working and Non-working Students (a Case of Undergraduate Phycologists of St.Petersburg State University). Nauchnye issledovaniya vypusknikov fakul’teta psihologii SPbGU [Scientific Research of Graduates of the Faculty of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University]. Vol. 3, pp. 41-47. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=25372950 (accessed 22.12.2022). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

16. Gabriel, A.S., Calderwood, C., Bennett, A.A., Wong, E.M., Dahling, J.J., Trougakos, J.P. (2019). Examining Recovery Experiences among Working College Students: A Person-centered Study. Journal of Vocational Behavior. Vol. 115, article no. 103329, doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103329

17. Taylor, A. (2022). ‘Being There’: Rhythmic Diversity and Working Students. Journal of Education and Work. Vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 572-584, doi: 10.1080/13639080.2022.2092607

18. Taylor, W.D., Snyder, L.A., Lin, L. (2020). What Free Time? A Daily Study of Work Recovery and Well-Being among Working Students. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. Vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 113-125, doi: 10.1037/ocp0000160

19. Grozev, V.H., Easterbrook, M.J. (2022). Accessing the Phenomenon of Incompatibility in Working Students’ Experience of University Life. Tertiary Education and Management. Vol. 28, pp. 241-264, doi: 10.1007/s11233-022-09096-6

20. Inceoglu, I., Selenko, E., McDowall, A., Schlachter, S. (2019). (How) Do Work Placements Work? Scrutinizing the Quantitative Evidence for a Theory-Driven Future Research Agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior. Vol. 110, part B, pp. 317-337, doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2018.09.002

21. Creed, P., French, J., Hood, M. (2015). Working While Studying at University: The Relationship Between Work Benefits and Demands and Engagement and Well-Being. Journal of Vocational Behavior. Vol. 86, pp. 48-57, doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2014.11.002

22. Choo, C. E. K., Kan, Z. X., Cho, E. (2021). A Review of the Literature on the School-Work-Life Interface. Journal of Career Development. Vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 290-305, doi: 10.1177/0894845319841170

23. Korneenko, T. N., Shcheglova, I. A. (2021). Assessment of the Student’s Educational Experience as a Tool for Making Management Decisions in the University. Universitetskoe upravlenie: praktika i analiz = University Management: Practice and Analysis. Vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 82-99, doi: 10.15826/umpa.2021.03.029 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

24. Lyz’, N.A., Golubeva, E.V., Istratova, O.N. (2022). Students’ Educational Experience: The Conceptualization and Development of a Tool for the Assessment of Education Quality. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 3, pp. 67-98, doi: 10.17323/1814-9545-2022-3-67-98 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

25. Lyz’, N.A., Lyz’, A.E., Neshchadim, I.O. (2022). The Success of Studying at Higher Education Institution: The Engineering Students’ Experience. Sovremennye problemy nauki i obrazovanija = Modern problems of science and education. No. 4, p. 41, doi: 10.17513/spno.31915 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

26. Maralov, V.G., Kariyev, A.D., Krezhevskikh, O.V., Kudaka, M.A., Ageeva, L.E., Agranovich, E.N. (2022). Students’ Subjectness, Self-Efficacy and Psychological Well-Being: Comparative Research of Russian and Kazakhstan Students. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 31, no. 10, pp. 135-149, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2022-31-810-135-149 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

27. McNall, L.A., Michel, J.S. (2011). A Dispositional Approach to Work-School Conflict and Enrichment. Journal of Business and Psychology. Vol. 26, pp. 397-411, doi: 10.1007/s10869-010-9187-0

28. Sokolova, M.V. (1996) Shkala sub’ektivnogo blagopoluchiya [Scale of Subjective Well-being]. Yaroslavl’: NPC “Psihodiagnostika”. 12 p. (In Russ).

29. Manukyan, V.R., Murtazina, I.R., Grishina, N.V. (2020). Questionnaire for Assessing the Self-Change Potential of a Person. Konsul’tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy. Vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 35-58, doi: 10.17759/cpp.2020280403 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).