Chloë Pearson

April 2023

I’m sitting at my desk in my workplace as a sociology tutor looking through some curriculum content for the sociology A level. There’s one study that catches my eye. It explains how working class students often work part-time alongside their studies at university, which can worsen their academic performance (Reay 2018). I suddenly picture myself. I’ve worked part-time alongside my degree for the past three years. I don’t particularly consider myself “working class” and neither do I feel my academic performance has worsened because of working part-time. If anything, I think my academic performance has improved because of my job – but that is most likely due to the nature of the work. This made me reflect – as my time both at uni and in my part-time job come to a close, has my experience of studying and working simultaneously been valuable?

I have worked part-time as a sociology A level mentor/tutor for three years – basically supporting students 1-to-1 or in small groups with the A level content, study skills, exam technique and anything else in college life. This job opportunity arose when I left the college as a student and a teacher emailed me an advert looking for ex-students to provide support as part of a COVID-19 catch-up scheme. The strict curriculum of the sociology A level I am required to know for my job certainly provides a good base knowledge and guide for the freedom of study at university. Many times when it came to writing a university essay, I drew on content from the sociology A level curriculum for inspiration. It is particularly useful that my degree is also in Sociology.

In the first year of university, all lectures and seminars were online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The removal of the commute and probably also the lack of tiredness from being able to complete uni from my bedroom meant I could work every week-day afternoon with ease. Had this not happened, I would not have been able to save money to buy my car. The whole first year of my job, I was spending close to a quarter of my daily wages on bus fares. I also knew that when university would (eventually) be on campus again, I would have to brave public transport for the commute there too. I knew that when lockdown measures eased and social events arose, it would become increasingly difficult to participate with sole reliance on buses. For working class students, the cost of a commute to university, as well as time to commute, if working part-time, could be a real burden and make it more difficult to attend university. It was the summer of my first year of university and I was driving my Dad’s car home from work that he kindly let me use a few times. It was then when I had the revelation – I hadn’t been anywhere significant in months because of lockdowns so wages were accumulating. I could buy a car. By the start of my second year (both at university and in my job), I had purchased my car. The freedom and independence my car provided has been immense. Not only has so much of my commute time been conserved for both university and my job, but I have been able to build so many friendships and community by having this access to a car.

Another good part of working alongside university is the skills learnt. Presentation tasks at university do not strike fear or concern for me, as in my job I’m basically presenting 1-to-1 or to small groups all the time. Everyday at work, I am recapping baseline sociological knowledge. This means my brain (on weekdays at least) is consumed by sociology most of the time! Organisation has been a great skill; balancing university lectures, seminars, essay-writing, commuting, part-time work, social events could not all happen without some insane organisational skill development. With a few exceptions, I have been able to keep all my university work and part-time work within the 9-5 Monday-Friday hours. With a busy, fast-paced life, learning to organise my time effectively and get a good “work-life balance” has been imperative to sustaining this lifestyle.

Additionally, my part-time job has led to invaluable opportunities in terms of career progression. Had I quit when my first year-long contract had finished, I am unsure as to what career path I would be looking at now. However, these three years in my part-time job has inspired me to pursue a career in teaching. I’m pleased to say I’ve managed to secure a full-time role working there after I complete my degree.

Only a few bad aspects of my experience of working-part time alongside university come to mind when I reflect upon it. At times, I have thought it would be nice to just have one focus at a time. Seeing some of my friends who attend university have a more chilled week due to only having to focus on university did seem appealing. Around university assignment deadline season, it would be nice if I could dedicate time solely to them, rather than a large proportion of the week written off due to part-time work. Maybe if I hadn’t worked part-time, I would not have had to organise my time quite so intensely. Maybe if I hadn’t worked part-time, I would have become involved with more extra-curricular activities at university.

At the same time, if I hadn’t worked part-time, I would not have been able to purchase a car and benefit from the vast blessings surrounding the freedom it provides. If I hadn’t worked part-time, right now I may be panicking more about future career plans. If I hadn’t worked part-time, maybe my academic performance at university would have suffered due to not thinking about sociology all day-everyday! Overall, I think that my experience of working part-time alongside completing my full-time sociology degree has been good. The benefits far outweigh the downsides. I think it is important to acknowledge that although without the wages from my job I would not have a car or live the lifestyle I do, for others working part-time alongside their studies is a must not a choice.

For those who need to work to provide for themselves on the basic level of paying bills and for food at university, working alongside their degree is a reality. However, there is still good that can come from work. There are many skills and opportunities that working part-time alongside university can provide. Some examples of jobs that may provide benefits while studying sociology at university could be tutoring (in a school, or privately, or for online companies), working at a local council and working for charities. Arguably whatever workplace you may find yourself in at university, many real-life sociological problems can be found that can provide you with some intellectual stimulation and reflections for your sociology degree!