Learning with Hard Labour: University Students as Workers

Abstract

This article argues the growth in the number of university students working and in their working hours is the result of inadequate government funding and support and that student work commitments are now having a negative impact on class attendance and out-of-class study. This, however, is not simply an educational issue. With over 300,000 university students working, it is important to understand more about their employment experience. This is made possible by citing the results of a 2006 regional survey which examined the nature of student work in terms of industry, size of business, earnings, hours and union membership. In this way, student employment is firmly placed within the context of a deregulated industrial relations system. The article also discusses the problem of student paid employment in the light of the Bradley Review of Higher Education in Australia.