The changing nature of student-ship: Social inclusion and paid employment practices in the Bradley years

The Bradley review suggests that students with low socio-economic status (SES) need greater financial support than that which is currently offered to them if they are to take up university places and remain at university throughout their courses (Bradley, Noonan, Nugent and Scales, 2008). This recommendation is, in part, based on research into the necessity for low SES students to maintain paid, term-time employment throughout their higher education to meet their basic needs. This study is a companion study to one recently undertaken into this issue at another Australian university site (Dearlove & Marland, 2012). Consequently, it seeks to explore the connection between SES status and paid termtime employment at this site: a suburban campus of a national Australian university. This research used a four page questionnaire to establish average hours of employment, types of employment, the necessity for employment, the expenditure of the money earned, and the potential for interference between study and paid employment for the full-time undergraduate students participating in this research. As with the previous research, there was a remarkable level of similarity between the responses of the two SES groups studied (low and mid/high). As term-time employment appears to be an almost universal phenomenon driven by necessity, it seems that it is time for universities and government to attempt to assist students to manage these dual roles.