Part–Time Work During Post–Compulsory Education And Examination Performance: Help Or Hindrance?

DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9485.00238
Published date01 September 2002
Date01 September 2002
PART-TIME WORK DURING
POST-COMPULSORY EDUCATION
AND EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE:
HELP OR HINDRANCE?
Duncan McVicar and Brian McKee *
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the effects on examination performance of having a part-time
job whilst in full-time post-sixteen education, using new data on young people in
Northern Ireland. Around 35% engaged in part time employment during their
education spell, compared to over 60% found by recent GB studies. This may be
related to Northern Ireland’s comparatively slack youth labour market and might
reflect part-time employment levels in other peripheral regions. Our estimations
suggest working part-time per se is not detrimental to examination performance,
although working long hours is. Policy makers might improve educational
performance by reducing incentives to work long hours.
II
NTRODUCTION
The huge expansion of post-compulsory education in the UK over the last 20
years has meant that many young people that would previously have entered
employment at age 16 now stay on in education. This trend, coupled with the
steady erosion of financial support for students at university, is likely to have
contributed to the growing numbers of young people in sixth forms and further
education colleges (FE) that also have part-time jobs. This paper examines
the increasingly relevant question of whether engaging in part-time paid
employment while in full-time post-compulsory education affects examination
performance.
Singh (1998) provides a concise discussion of the competing theories on the
effects of part-time work on educational performance. From one perspective,
part-time work complements education and smoothes the transition from school
to work.1Values are shared between school and the workplace and similar skills
Scottish Journal of Political Economy,Vol.49,No.4,September2002
#Scottish Economic Society 2002,Publ ishedby Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
393
*Northern Ireland Economic Research Centre
1A separate point argued by Hodgson and Spours (2000) is that the availability of part-time
work might encourage some young people to participate in post-compulsory education that
would not otherwise have done so.

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