Does Combining Work and Study ‘Pay Off’? Investigating Intersectional Effects of Term-Time Employment, First-Generation Status and Gender on Graduate Outcomes

Abstract

Despite globally increasing numbers of university students participating in paid employment during their studies, there is limited evidence on whether working during the lecture period (i.e., term-time) is beneficial for graduate outcomes, especially from an intersectional perspective. Using Austrian national administrative data on all university graduates between 2009 and 2018 (N = 90,026), we examine how student employment is associated with graduate outcomes for university graduates taking intersectional effects of ‘first-generation status’ and ‘gender’ into account. Our results extend existing research by showing that First-Generation graduate men and women tend to benefit differently from engaging in term-time employment. This accentuates the need for further research in higher education studies investigating graduate outcomes by taking intersectionality into account. Based on the results of this study, we discuss implications for policy and practice of employability-related activities at higher education institutions.