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Education Sciences
Special Issues
Working Students in Higher Education
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Working Students in Higher Education

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Higher Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2024 | Viewed by 5915

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Claudia Andrade

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Guest Editor
1. Coimbra Education School, Polytechnic of Coimbra, 3030-033 Coimbra, Portugal
2. Center of Psychology, University of Porto, 4150-564 Porto, Portugal
Interests: work–family relations; gender; emerging adulthood; work and career
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Joana Lobo Fernandes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Coimbra Education School, Polytechnic of Coimbra, 3030-033 Coimbra, Portugal
2. Research Center for Natural Resources, Environment and Society, 3040-316 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: social responsibility; HEIs; organizational communication; applied ethics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Working students comprise a diverse and large portion of today’s Higher Education student population. The strategies that these students use for success (degree completion) involve individual, institutional, and structural factors. While research has found that work can have detrimental effects on students’ learning experiences, academic attainment, and social integration in Higher Education, other studies have found that work while studying can be an enriching experience that fosters students’ learning capabilities and promotes academic self-efficacy. The mixed results from previous research can only be analyzed if we consider that working students are a growing heterogeneous group and their experiences can vary across different groups and cultural contexts.

For this Special Issue, we welcome both theoretical and empirical papers drawing from quantitative and qualitative research, but not excluding mixed methods approaches that focus on how personal, institutional, and structural factors can affect working students’ ability to succeed in Higher Education.

Examples of relevant topics include but are not limited to:

  • Mature working students and academic learning;
  • Gender differences in combining work and study;
  • Age differences in combining work and study;
  • Combining work and study in different Higher Education levels (e.g., Bachelor, Master. and PhD);
  • Combining different types of work (e.g., full-time/part-time, in/off campus) with study;
  • COVID-19 impacts in combining work and study;
  • Working student parents and multiple role reconciliation;
  • Working student from under-represented groups (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities, immigrants);
  • Working students with disabilities;
  • Student unions and working students;
  • Support mechanisms implemented by HEIs to support working students (including strategies to make studies more flexible, e.g., institutional and teaching strategies);
  • Teaching using hybrid solutions (face-to-face/off-site) and their adequacy to working students.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Andrade
Prof. Dr. Joana Lobo Fernandes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • working students
  • institutional support mechanisms
  • social support
  • strategies for academic attainment
  • diverse and under-represented groups

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
“You’re a Mature Student and You’re a Tiny, Tiny Little Fish in a Big Massive Pond of Students”: A Thematic Analysis Investigating the Institutional Support Needs of Partnered Mature Students in Postsecondary Study
by Tricia van Rhijn, Caitlyn Osborne, Deborah Gores, Amiah Keresturi, Ruth Neustifter, Amy Muise and Victoria Fritz
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(11), 1069; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13111069 - 24 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1588
Abstract
Mature students in postsecondary education—those over 25 years of age, also known as nontraditional students or adult learners—make up a significant minority population on Canadian postsecondary campuses. Despite academic performance that tends to be higher than that of traditional students, the retention of [...] Read more.
Mature students in postsecondary education—those over 25 years of age, also known as nontraditional students or adult learners—make up a significant minority population on Canadian postsecondary campuses. Despite academic performance that tends to be higher than that of traditional students, the retention of mature students is lower due to the stressors they face in their home and school roles. This paper examines the insights of mature students and their intimate partners on how higher education institutions can provide better supports to make postsecondary programs and campuses more accessible to adult learners and enable their success. A sample of 25 mature postsecondary students enrolled in Canadian higher education institutions and their partners participated in dyadic interviews that explored the connections between their relationship and school experiences. A data-driven, inductive thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews found three themes that focused on the institutional support needs of partnered mature students, highlighting the need to (1) increase institutional knowledge and awareness of mature students’ needs, (2) offer flexible study options to complete courses and program requirements, and (3) provide relevant supports and programs. Mature students felt marginalized at their institutions related to the programs, instructors, staff, resources, and supports that are strongly focused on traditional-aged and circumstanced students. Recommendations are provided for higher education institutions to provide resources and supports that meet mature students’ unique needs to both access and be successful in their pursuit of postsecondary education. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Working Students in Higher Education)
9 pages, 278 KiB  
Article
School-Family and Family-School Enrichment: A Study with Portuguese Working Student Parents
by Cláudia Andrade and Joana Lobo Fernandes
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 1024; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13101024 - 11 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1012
Abstract
In recent years, higher education institutions have progressively undertaken efforts to attract more diversified populations to their programs, both in the first and second cycles. These new groups include students who work professionally and who are parents. The literature that aims to address [...] Read more.
In recent years, higher education institutions have progressively undertaken efforts to attract more diversified populations to their programs, both in the first and second cycles. These new groups include students who work professionally and who are parents. The literature that aims to address the management of multiple roles of higher education students has mainly devoted its attention to the potential conflict of roles, with a scarcity of studies focused on the positive aspects that may result from this articulation. The present study aims to analyze the relationships between satisfaction with social support (in the academic/school, work, and family domain), satisfaction with role management and academic performance and school-family and family-school enrichment experiences. The study was carried out using a questionnaire, with 155 students working fathers/mothers allowed to identify predictors of school-family and family-school enrichment. The results provide a better understanding of the factors that contribute to a student role having a positive impact on other life roles, namely the professional role and the role of father/mother. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Working Students in Higher Education)
14 pages, 1457 KiB  
Article
Adapting as I Go: An Analysis of the Relationship between Academic Expectations, Self-Efficacy, and Adaptation to Higher Education
by Mafalda Campos, Francisco Peixoto, Rui Bártolo-Ribeiro and Leandro S. Almeida
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 658; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12100658 - 28 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2296
Abstract
Transition to higher education is increasingly becoming a common stage in young adulthood, which highlights the importance of studying what could contribute for a better adaptation to higher education. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between academic expectations, self-efficacy, [...] Read more.
Transition to higher education is increasingly becoming a common stage in young adulthood, which highlights the importance of studying what could contribute for a better adaptation to higher education. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between academic expectations, self-efficacy, and adaptation to higher education during the first two years of college (i.e., the first two years of a higher education degree). Portuguese college students participated in a longitudinal data collection resorting to the Academic Expectations Questionnaire (T1 and T3), the Self-Efficacy in Higher Education Scale (T2 and T3), and the Questionnaire for Higher Education Adaptation (T2 and T3). Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted to test a model correlating academic expectations, self-efficacy, and adaptation, as well as a mediation model where a full mediation of self-efficacy was observed between the relationship between academic expectations and higher education expectations. This study delivers a unique longitudinal view on the experience of the first two years of college, showing a significant role of expectations and self-efficacy in order to achieve a better adaptation process. Results are useful for institutions to adapt the way they present themselves and manage students’ expectations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Working Students in Higher Education)
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