Ref: NET_2019_1563: Working while studying: The impact of term-time employment on undergraduate nursing students' engagement in the Republic of Ireland: A cross-sectional study

Background: Globally, there is evidence that tertiary education students are increasingly combining full time study with paid term-time employment. Despite this dual participation, little is known about the impact of working for pay during term on students' engagement with activities, both academic and social, that are associated with learning and development. Objectives: To measure undergraduate nursing students' term-time employment commitments and the impact of those commitments on nursing students' engagement. Design: Cross-sectional survey design. Settings: Four Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Republic of Ireland - comprising of two Universities and two Institutes of Technology. Participants: First and final year undergraduate students (n = 634) enrolled in a four-year Bachelor of Science Nursing (honours degree). Methods: The College Student Report - National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) self-report questionnaire was utilised. This collects data on core activities associated with student engagement along with how students spend their time in and out of class. The statistical software package SPSS version 21 was used to analyse data. Results: Over two-thirds of undergraduate nursing students (n = 423) engaged in term-time employment, working on average 15 h per week, with non-traditional students (i.e. mature-aged, those with children, those who did not enter college based on second level school results) working most hours. Term-time employment had limited impact on student engagement, however, students in employment had increased student faculty interaction compared to students who were not employed but engaged in less time studying (Mean = 7.2, SD 5.9) than those who were employed (Mean = 8.7, SD = 7.6; t(316) = 2.46; p=.014). Conclusions: Overall, engaging in term-time employment was not negatively associated with student engagement, but it did reduce the number of hours students studied. Non-traditional students were more likely to be employed and consequently impacted by combining work and educational demands.