Paper presented at The 6th Aceh Development International Conference.

Kuala Lumpur:
International Islamic University Malaysia, 24-26 March 2017

The Experiences of Working While Studying:

A Case Study of Postgraduate Students at International
Islamic University Malaysia
Tumin
Kulliyyah of Education
International Islamic University Malaysia
Email: tumin.ashe@gmail.com

Ahmad Faizuddin
Kulliyyah of Education
International Islamic University Malaysia
Email: akhi.faizuddin@gmail.com

Abstract

This study explores the experiences of working while studying of

postgraduate students at International Islamic University Malaysia
(IIUM). The main objective is to know what is the meaning of working
while studying for postgraduate students at IIUM. Four research
questions were formulated: (1) What are postgraduate students
perceptions of working while studying? (2) What are the positive and
negative effects of working while studying? (3) What are the challenges
faced by postgraduate students when working while studying and how do
they overcome the problems? (4) What are suggestions and
recommendations for students who are working while studying? Two
informants were purposively selected and interviewed to collect the data.
The result shows that postgraduate students understand the meaning of
working while studying and how to deal with them in term of overcoming
the challenges. The recommendations include postgraduate students who
decide to work while studying should have good time management, be
committed, disciplined and responsible for what they are doing.

Keywords: Student working, working while studying, IIUM

postgraduates

INTRODUCTION
Working part-time has long been part of university students experiences. Various
changes in terms of funding mechanism have resulted in increasing numbers of students
undertaking employment during their academic studies (Watts & Pickering, 2000).
Although the exact numbers of students working part-time are difficult to determine,
several studies found that between 50 and 60 percent of all university students are
engaged in some forms of part-time jobs (Curtis, 2007; Hkkinen, 2006).

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The issue might be due to the introduction of student loans, which provides a large
extent government funding for university fees. It is then argued that obtaining debt as a
direct consequence of studying will encourage students to get involved in part-time
employment (Metcalf, 2003). Even though many countries, including Indonesia and
Malaysia, have allocated specific budget for education by providing scholarships, but not
all students have the privilege to get them. Thus, loans become an alternative for
postgraduate students to continue their studies (Lucas & Lammont, 1998).

With regard to the above-mentioned issue, researching and investigating the experiences
of postgraduate students who are working while studying is considered significant.
Especially at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), the research in this area is
still limited. This will contribute to future studies in the field of education related to
students experiences who are working while studying. The following research questions
were used to guide the research in answering the main objectives of the study:

1) What are postgraduate students perceptions of working while studying?

2) What are the positive and negative effects of working while studying?
3) What are the challenges faced by postgraduate students when working while studying
and how do they overcome the problems?
4) What are suggestions and recommendations for students who are working while
studying?

LITERATURE REVIEWS
Students engaged in part-time and sometime full-time employment while studying is
increasingly a common phenomenon everywhere. Steinberg et al. (1981) stated over 30
years ago that working while studying provides students with quite naturally an indication
of the requirements that will be needed to function effectively in ones later career (Schill,
McCartin, & Meyer, 1985). In recent years, further studies found that students who are
working part-time can easily develop team working, communication, costumer care and
practical skills (Lucas & Lammont, 1998; Curtis & Lucas, 2001).

Students can directly relate the experiences of working part-time to enhance and improve
their academic knowledge, motivation and employment prospects (Curtis & Shani, 2002;
Curtis & Williams, 2002). Consequently, a number of researches have concluded that a
combination of financial needs and the opportunity to gain experiences will ultimately
enhance career opportunities in the future (Harvey, 2000; Devlin, James & Grigg, 2008;
Nonis & Hudson, 2006).

According to the research conducted by Watts and Pickering (2000), while working part-
time and studying full-time has a variety of positive outcomes, respondents generally
viewed part-time employment as a necessity to survive in the contemporary higher
education sphere. In Manthei and Gilmores (2005) study, it is said that the money
earned from part-time employment was typically spent on essential living expenses.

From the perspective of students themselves, part-time work is often an introduction to

the real world which will assist them both in personal and career development especially
in higher education sector (Tymon, 2013; Tomlinson, 2007). Higher education
institutions should identify opportunities to increase the extent to which students could
be more familiar with work and expose them to educational, part-time vocational and
career experiences (Yorke, 2004; Glover, Law & Youngman, 2002).

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Balancing Studying and Working

A variety of studies have examined the impacts of part-time employment on full-time

students. Manthei and Gilmore (2005), for instance, considered that working part-time
leaves less desired time to study. In addition, Jogaratnam and Buchanan (2004) stated
that new students who choose to do part-time job while having full-time academic load
were most likely to suffer from stress. As many studies suggested, indeed a combination
of full-time studying and part-time working can have a detrimental effect in the physical
and mental health of students. It can create the negative effect on academic performance
(Hovdhaugen, 2015; Creed, French & Hood, 2015; Darolia, 2014).

Curtis and Shani (2002) believed that students who are working part-time will most likely
miss lecturers and feel that they could achieve higher grades had they not been working.
For that reason, universities should be aware of contemporary student lives. They should
introduce an element of flexibility as a means of structuring assignments and course
requirements to support this (Curtis, 2007). Positively, perhaps students might acquire
personal transferable skills, enhance employability and increase confidence in the world
of work (Watts & Pickering, 2000).

However, negatively, students who are working part-time tend to achieve poorer marks
compared to their classmates who are studying full-time. Given that part-time working
students is a common phenomenon, Jogaratnam and Buchanan (2004) suggested that
universities have a moral requirement to more effectively understand and manage the
stressors experienced by students studying full-time and working part-time. Perhaps
providing suitable trainings for students would be an alternative.

Finally, universities who are struggling with the debates regarding the cost or validity of
practical skills training might be able to take advantages of the synergy that exists as a
means of solving these tensions. Consequently, it is the purpose of this study to develop
an understanding of part-time employment amongst postgraduate students. Specifically,
this paper aims to determine the extent of part-time employment amongst International
Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) postgraduate students, to determine the reasons for
engaging in part-time employment in the first place and to find out their strategies to
overcome the challenges in studying while working.

METHODOLOGY

Overview of the Design

This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of

postgraduate students of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) who are
working while studying. A qualitative method was used to explore more in-depth and
rich data for the study (Cresswell, 2012). A pilot study was carried out first to find out
whether postgraduate students are aware of the issue of working while studying, and
tested out specific research questions and interviews. Later on, two informants were
selected purposively among postgraduate students who have more experiences and
information about this issue. The interviews were recorded using voice recorder and
transcribed later on.

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Data Analysis Procedures

In order to ensure that information obtained from the informants would not be missed
or misinterpreted, the interviews were transcribed verbatim, words by words. The
following six steps were used as a method of transcribing the data:

Step 1 The whole interviews were transcribed verbatim without leaving a single
word or comments.
Step 2 The transcripts were carefully read and examined to validate its accuracy
and clarity. The focus is more to spelling and pronunciation.
Step 3 The transcripts were re-read to find out special statements, key words
and phrases which point to an aspect of phenomenon that reveals something
essential about informants experiences.
Step 4 The transcripts were re-read more closely to figure out the context of the
statements. It aims to interpret essential meanings from key words or phrases to
formulate the main ideas.
Step 5 The main ideas were elaborated to identify the themes. To generate a
theme, interview questions, key words and main ideas were carefully compared.
Several themes from other studies were also compared for a better result.
Step 6 The themes were extracted to match the main ideas and sought
elaboration from experts or inter-raters. Finally, the findings were presented in
the discussion and analysis.

Credibility and Reliability

Two trustworthy inter-raters were chosen to check and test the information generated
from the interviews. This step is important to know the credibility and reliability towards
the study. The two inter-raters were doctoral students in educational administration at
the International Islamic University Malaysia. They are given full transcripts and selected
themes generating from the main ideas. The reliability of the researchers coding and that
of the inter-raters was calculated using a formula: number of agreement divided by total
number of agreement plus disagreement. The result shows that the first rater gave 86.66
per cent and the second one gave full point 100 per cent. The total average of both raters
is 91.66 per cent, which indicates a good reliability to confirm the study.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The findings and discussion will be organized according to the research questions and
interview questions. This way, it will be easier to see the patterns and direct responses
from the informants. To keep the privacy of the informants, in the discussion they will
be coded as Informant 1 (F1) and Informant 2 (F2).

Research Question One What are postgraduate students perceptions of

working while studying?

This research questions tried to explore the perceptions of postgraduate students on

working while studying. Based on the informants responses, it is confirmed that financial
support, self-development and internal motivation to integrate theory and practice are
among the driving forces of working while studying at university. From the responses, it

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can be inferred that the informants seemed to fully understand the motivation and
reasons behind working while studying. Five interview questions below show various
responses of the informants:

What motivate you to continue studying while working?

I feel that I am in need to improve my quality of life. So I decided to

further my study even though I have to work as well. (F1)
For me it is just to get the experience and additional financial support.
(F2)

What do you think about working while studying for students?

Theoretically, it is very good actually. But to integrate and do both at the

same time, it is very difficult indeed. (F1)

I believe that education is important, but we also need money for

studying. So seeking money is also important. (F2)

Do you have any friends who are studying while working?

Yes, I have many friends who work while studying. It sometimes make
them have to be absent from the class and often the communication is
done through email. (F1)

Yes, some of them work at formal sector and informal sector. (F2)

What are the differences between student who are studying while working and working while studying?

I would say that students who work while studying, they still focus on
their study, working just to support their study. However students who
study while working, their main focus is to work not to study, so the
result is of course different. (F1)

I think both of them focus on working and studying to get the life
experience (F2)

What are the reasons for you to work while studying?

Personally, I want to increase my skill. When my skill is stronger, I will

be able to give it to my students in terms of knowledge and needs. (F1)

I want to become independent. I dont want to be a burden to my

parents, so I can pay my own expenses and tuition fees. Besides, I can
get experiences and it is good to do my hobbies. (F2)

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Research Question 2 - What are the positive and negative effects of working while
studying?

The second research question looked at positive and negative effects of working while
studying. The findings showed that informants have happy feeling and good time
management. Additionally, they become more responsible and improved their personal
life. Three interview questions below show the responses from the informants:

How do you feel when you are working while studying?

I am very happy and enjoy what I do. The experience can help me to get
new ideas if I have problem, how to solve it, so it can enrich my
problem solving skills. (F1)

I can manage my time and appreciate it efficiently and effectively. It is

important to manage time when I study and when I work. (F2)

Is there any positive impact for you, please explain?

The positive impact is I can manage my time wisely. I can have more
chance to get new ideas in order to enrich my knowledge. (F1)

Mainly I am getting experiences from outside the class, how the world
works and how to be responsible to ourselves. (F2)

How do you manage your time in working while studying?

I try to balance my working hours and study times. How much time I
spend for working, I try to manage my study as well even though I
cannot do it fully because I have to do other things. (F1)

I try to manage my time efficiently by determining when the time I can

study and when I can work. (F2)

Research Question 3 - What are the challenges faced by postgraduate students

when working while studying and how do they overcome the problems?

In the research question number three, the focus is on the challenges faced by the
informants and how they overcome the problems. The findings show that among the
effective ways are through good time management and self-reflection. Three interview
questions below highlight the responses from the informants:

Is there any negative impact for you when studying while working?

Of course there are many negative impacts especially in academic

performance. When I work, for instance, I tend to focus on my working
world so my stamina will be drained drastically so I cannot focus on
study. (F1)

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 Depending on the situation. The bad thing is when we cannot manage
our time efficiently; it will take a longer time to complete the study. I
have to complete my draft of dissertation for several years. (F2)

What is the effect on your academic performance?

So far I do not have problem with it. Depending on our effort to

manage the time for studying, the result will suit with it. If it is maximal,
the academic performance will be good. (F1)

Of course it affects my academic performance. Principally, the time to

work and to study will have to be divided accordingly. (F2)

How do you overcome the challenges?

The first thing that I usually do is self-reflection. It is important because

sometimes the problems come from ourselves. We need to conquer
ourselves first so we can manage our surrounding. Meaning to say that
we have to be ready to face any challenges. (F1)

The main point is how we manage the time efficiently. In doing so, I
believe that we must be healthy. I do exercise; balance the nutrient of
food in order to be healthy so I will be able to manage my time fully.
(F2)

Research Question 4 - What are suggestions and recommendations for students

who are working while studying?

The last research question intended to ask the informants their suggestions and
recommendations for students who have similar condition. Among the suggestions are
the students who decide to work while studying must be first of all committed and
disciplined. They need to manage their time wisely because it is the most essential
element in balancing the work and study at university. As both the informants agreed, it
is not an easy task, but it is doable and manageable as long as the person is responsible in
what he or she is doing. The following two interview questions show the suggestions and
recommendations:

What are your suggestions for students who are working while studying?

The first thing to make clear is time management. Sometimes a person

has objective A but when he divides his time it does not focus on A
because the portion must be clear between working and studying. The
second thing is a good reflection on ourselves because studying is not
only to get the result or certificate, or we pass and get grade A and B.
The most important thing is what we get from the study. Reflection is
very important to know the source of the problem from within
ourselves. (F1)

My suggestion is that we must focus more on our studying and it is our

main objective in seeking the knowledge; whereas working is just as an
addition for experience and knowing the working world. (F2)

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Do you have any recommendations to improve students performance when they have to work?

Treat the time for studying like as the time for working. If you want to
be successful in both working and studying, you must balance the time
for both. (F1)

My suggestion for the students who work while studying is to appreciate

your work and be professional. Consider that working is a process of
learning in achieving a good life in the future. Do not forget that our
main objective is first of all studying and it becomes our main basis. (F2)

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings and discussions of the study, it can be concluded that postgraduate
students have been experiencing of working while studying at International Islamic
University Malaysia. They seemed fully understand the meaning or working while
studying and its consequences. The motivation behind doing this is mainly due to
financial support, self-development and seeking real-world job experiences for their
future. There are positive and negative impacts of working while studying at university.
Thus, the suggestions and recommendations for students who have to work while
studying are to be committed, disciplined, responsible and have good time management.

Finally, the researchers would like to recommend the following issues as implications for
educational practice and future research:
1. For students, working while studying at university level is not necessarily
detrimental to their academic performances. The most important thing if they
work while studying is to get real information and to know how many hours per
week in order to suit with their academic loads at university.
2. For lecturers, working students is something common in todays reality. For that
reason, the lecturers should understand the real life situation of their students.
3. For university authorities, make some supportive regulations or requirements for
students who have to work while studying. Some countries and universities, for
instance, permit their students to take part time jobs, volunteering jobs and
continuous jobs.
4. For future research, it is highly recommended to conduct a more in-depth
research employing mixed methods with a great number of participants or
informants in collecting the data. It is hopefully will have a better result and
implications for similar research.

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