The Impact of Student Employment on Liberal Arts Outcomes

Mark Salisbury, Ernest T. Pascarella, and Ryan D. Padgett (University of Iowa) recently gave a presentation at the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) Annual Forum on their study of the effects of work on liberal arts experiences and outcomes. Using data from the Wabash National Study, they looked at how varying levels of on- and off-campus work impacted students’ classroom experiences and peer interactions, as well as their performance on outcome measures of, for example, critical thinking, leadership, and well-being. Click here (PDF) to view the presentation, which includes details on the research model, results, and implications. To read an article about their findings, as well as learn about related research on how employment affects grades, go to "The Impact of Student Employment" in Inside Higher Ed.

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