Learning/Earning: Characteristics of Student Work and Its Impact on Academic Careers at a Regional Hungarian University

Research on the effect of student work on academic achievement has produced inconsistent results, and Hungarian domestic research on the subject is scarce. Our research aims to contribute to the discussion. We hypothesize that student work has a beneficial effect on students’ academic achievement. The target group is the full-time, working students at the regional Hungarian university (n = 538). By clustering students based on three variables (motivation, alignment of work with studies, and working hours), we separated three distinct student groups: disadvantaged/income-oriented, ambitious, and utilitarian/leisure-oriented. Disadvantaged/income-oriented students work for financial reasons and work a large number of hours. Ambitious students work fewer hours, and they work to fulfil their professional aspirations. The utilitarian/leisure-oriented cluster is the only group whose members work because it is a useful way of spending leisure time as well as an opportunity to obtain money for other free-time activities. With the help of the achievement index, we detected further differences between the student clusters. Students in the disadvantaged/income-oriented cluster do not have high academic scores and do not take part in extracurricular activities. They are more likely to interrupt their studies, mainly for financial reasons and because of work. The achievement was not affected by students’ social status indicators such as parents’ educational attainment or labor market position; it is contact with faculty and performing work related to studies that have the most explanatory power.