The study found that working in low-level
positions made some students reconsider
the importance of their high school studies.
Image: iStockphoto
The skills young people learn at part-time jobs during high school can be important tools for later life and should not be overlooked, according to a QUT researcher.
Professor Wendy Patton, executive dean of the Faculty of Education, has recently completed a study looking at the experiences of high school students who worked while studying.
"We looked at three years of data, from Year 10 to Year 12, and we wanted to see if part-time work helped them in things like career decisions, in career maturity and in skills which they would take to their chosen professions later on," she said.
Professor Patton said most of these part-time jobs were in retail or hospitality.
She said part-time work helped students with knowledge of the workplace, and it was important to have this acknowledged and expanded upon in formal education.
"Part-time work does help students in terms of knowledge about workplaces," said Professor Patton.
"We also found part-time jobs encourage people to do well in their studies because working in lower-level positions made them understand some of the demands of the workplace and encouraged them to reconsider the importance of their high school study.
"There generally wasn't a strong connection made by the students with regard to linking their part-time work with learning skills for their future career, but there was definitely a connection made by employers with regards to observing them, and being aware that students were the future workforce.
"I think students should be aware of how important the skills they are learning in their part-time work are. At the moment they do not really have a context to talk about and identify what they are learning at work, so they are not able to see their new skills as something concrete.
"In reality, they are learning about teamwork, engaging with peers, time management when it comes to organising schoolwork around paid work, dealing with the public - all things which they will need when they embark upon their careers."
Professor Patton said some schools offered career education, which was an ideal way of formally showing students how to recognise and best use the skills they gain while working.
"I have been engaged in young people's career development for a long time, and the literature used to be about preparing students for the transition from school to work," she said.
"Now, in most cases, that transition occurs while students are still at school, and part-time work is already a significant feature of adolescent life. This is something which can really be beneficial to students if they are shown how to utilise the skills they learn in the right way."
The study was part of an Australian Research Council Linkage project.
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
|
