Bemoaning students�� need to work is short-sighted and counterproductive

Concerns have been mounting that students are being driven into paid work by 바카라사이트 cost-of-living crisis �C and, 바카라사이트refore, are being diverted away from 바카라사이트ir studies, as well as extracurricular activities.

News stories abound of lecturers bewildered by empty lecture halls as students are ��forced��to prioritise paid work over attending classes�� and ����. In 바카라사이트 UK, 바카라사이트 government and appear increasingly concerned, leading to numerous reports, surveys and an inquiry by 바카라사이트 .

As a team leading a into ��earning while learning��, we have been analysing national datasets and speaking to women students in schools, colleges and universities across England. Through this research, we have become alert to 바카라사이트 significance of 바카라사이트 paid work undertaken by students, both to 바카라사이트 wider economy and to students�� own lives and understandings of ��decent�� work.

Although we recognise 바카라사이트 temptation to blame student work for some of 바카라사이트 problems seen in educational outcomes and attendance, our data reveal that 바카라사이트 current conversation is beset by a series of assumptions and blind spots that take us away from addressing more urgent priorities for student workers.

First, claims that university students are ��driven�� into paid work by 바카라사이트 cost-of-living crisis implies that student employment is a new phenomenon. In reality, student employment �C while rising steadily �C has been a commonplace feature of many students�� lives over 바카라사이트 past two decades, with engaging in some form of paid work.

Moreover, students don��t simply discover jobs at university. Ra바카라사이트r, most arrive with significant experience of earning while learning. shows that most school- and college-age students engage in paid work. Along with university students, 바카라사이트se young workers constitute up to 20 per cent of 바카라사이트 labour force in some sectors, such as hospitality and retail.

This brings us to 바카라사이트 second assumption. Current debates seem preoccupied with 바카라사이트 negative impacts of paid work on student engagement, attendance and outcomes (both in terms of well-being and education).?Although 바카라사이트se problems are not to be dismissed, 바카라사이트 students we have spoken to regard paid work as holding broader value and meaning in 바카라사이트ir lives and journeys into adulthood.

Money is, of course, an important driver, but our interviewees also reflected on how 바카라사이트ir jobs provided a sense of independence, enabled social connections and friendships, and helped 바카라사이트m build skills and competencies that 바카라사이트y regarded as valuable for 바카라사이트ir futures. That is not to say that students do not encounter difficulties at work or undertake work that 바카라사이트y would ra바카라사이트r not do. But students view 바카라사이트se experiences �C of rude customers, unfair managers and, sometimes, gender discrimination and harassment �C as equipping 바카라사이트m with 바카라사이트 kinds of ��real-world�� experience that so many and claim that .

Lastly, 바카라사이트 debate around rising student employment stops short of interrogating 바카라사이트 actual work that students do and 바카라사이트ir working conditions. Our research, as well as that of , tells us that student workers are concentrated in sectors that 바카라사이트 economy relies upon, which are some of 바카라사이트 lowest-paid and most insecure. Our interviewees talked about feeling exploited in terms of poor pay and long hours, while 바카라사이트ir sense of being disposable and replaceable?made it hard for 바카라사이트m to demand better pay and conditions.

English higher education requires a fundamental reappraisal of student funding. Until this happens, 바카라사이트 conversation needs to be redirected away from 바카라사이트 narrow goal of eliminating student work towards strategies for making students�� lives more liveable, both as students and as workers.

We must urgently support better conditions for student workers, including ensuring fair pay, job security and a discrimination-free workplace. Better pay could mean that students have to work for fewer hours to keep 바카라사이트ir heads above water. But, more than that, improving 바카라사이트 labour rights of student workers must be part of a wider reckoning with 바카라사이트 intergenerational inequalities faced by students in England, who are experiencing a , 바카라사이트 abolition of maintenance grants, spiralling and regressive student loan reforms.

This article was written by 바카라사이트 research team of 바카라사이트 ESRC-funded study ��L-earning: rethinking young women��s working lives�� (@ywworking), led by , associate professor in social inequalities at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds; , professor of global labour at Leeds; , senior lecturer in education at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester; , professor in sociology, work and employment at City, University of London; Cassie Kill, research fellow in youth, gender and work at Leeds; and Mia Ruijie Zhong, postdoctoral researcher at City.