Document Tag: time poverty

It’s About Time, Part II: Does Time Poverty Contribute to Inequitable College Outcomes by Gender and Race/Ethnicity (2024)

Existing research demonstrates gender- and race/ethnicity-based inequities in college outcomes. Separately, recent research suggests a relationship between time poverty and college outcomes for student parents and online students. However, to date, no studies have empirically explored whether differential access to time as a resource for college may explain differential outcomes by gender or race/ethnicity. To address this, this study explored the relationship between time poverty, gender or race/ethnicity, and college outcomes at a large urban public university with two and four year campuses. Time poverty explained a significant proportion of differential outcomes (retention and credit accumulation) by gender and race/ethnicity. More time-poor groups also dedicated a larger proportion of their (relatively limited) discretionary time to their education,
suggesting that inequitable distributions of time may contribute to other negative outcomes (e.g., reduced time for sleep, exercise, healthcare). This suggests that time poverty is a significant but understudied equity issue in higher education.

Is Working in College Worth It? How Hours on the Job Affect Postsecondary Outcomes (2023)

Many students work during college to offset rising costs, but significant time on the job affects postsecondary outcomes. Analyzing the High School Longitudinal Study (N = 4,418), this article estimates the effects of hours worked on grades, credits earned, persistence, stopping out (i.e., unenrolling for 5 months before reenrolling), and dropping out. The polynomial regression analysis shows that after adjusting for background characteristics, prior academic achievement, institution types, and family obligations, “traditional” undergraduate students begin seeing deleterious effects at 20 hours, which becomes even more severe for those working 28+ hours (and the worst for Pell Grant recipients working long hours). While some work was good for students, on average, financial and family circumstances help explain the curvilinear relationships.