The Effects of Working on College Students

sleep
By: Jessica Wright

Abstract: This study was intended to find out the effects of work on college students.
Specifically, to find the effects it has on sleep. The sampling group was chosen by convenience
sampling, and they were given a survey to fill out. Results: 67% employed, 33% no employed;
Of the employed, 90% worked 11 hours or more, and 44% worked 21 hours or more. 51% of
students slept at least 6 hours but less than 9 hours. 51.2 of working students went to bed at 2
AM or after. 85% said that they delayed sleep at least once a month. 60.6% of students have
skipped class to sleep. It was concluded that while work students may sleep less their studies do
not usually suffer for it.
Keywords: Sleeping, college students, work, employed
Introduction

Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

With the increasing price of a college education, the amount of college students have
turned to working as increased as well. Part-time and sometimes full-time jobs are necessary to
handle all of the costs. While many students have scholarships or loans to help pay for school,
sometimes these methods do not cover all of a students financial need. Also, there are other
factors to consider. Students living on-campus and off-campus have found it hard to afford their
basic necessities without a job. On-campus students need to be able to buy things such as,
clothes, toiletries, cell phone, and car insurance. While off-campus students need to pay for rent
and utilities in addition to everything previously mentioned. Not all parents are able to
completely financially support their college-bound student. The price of college has really
become an issue among students. In their research Karikari and Dezhbakhsh found that despite
an increase in the amount of grant aid offered college is not affordable to lower-income students
and most middle income. The affordability of school has worsened over time and it is easy to
see the effect of this in the decline in enrollment of lower-income students in private schools
(Karikari & Dezhbakhsh).
Many students part-time and full-time have found it necessary to seek employment. A
full-time student is somebody taking 12 or more credit hours, while a part-time student is taking
less than 12 credit hours. Students have many stresses and one of the main ones is over money.
In a study 248 students were interviewed and it was found that 55.1% of the students
experienced stress over a source of income (Bland et al.). According to the United States census
of the 19.7 million college students attending school in 2011, 72% of them worked. Of those
72%, 20% were full-time workers, while 52% worked less than the 40 hours a week considered
full time. Most of the students who were not working full time were working more than 20
hours a week (Davis). Many professionals such as professors, researchers, and college
administrators have stated that students should not work any more than 10-20 hours a week.
However, there is concern that is not realistic for many students to work under 20 hours (Pern).
The cost of living is high and working long shifts may be a necessity. It is a common worry that
education is suffering while students try to pay their way through school. Nevertheless, many
students have no other option.
There have been many studies on the effect of work on college students. These studies
research GPA, sleep habits, stress, graduation rate, depression and more. However, the results
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

are not always consistent. Understanding the Working College Student: New Research and Its
Implications for Policy and Practice explains some of the different results found. Some surveys
have found an increased retention rate in students who work while others have found a decreased
rate. The same goes with all the other areas of interest (Pern, 2010). There are many variables
involved in the research then just the ones the researcher chooses. Peoples replies can differ and
therefore many surveys studying similar habits can have vastly different results.
One of the most common areas researched is a working college students GPA. However,
there are more things to be concerned about than a students GPA, such as diet, stress levels and
sleep. Stress, is a huge problem in students who are employed. The stress levels in students
who work is considerably higher than of those who do not work. Mounsey, Vandehey, and
Diekhoff, measured working students at a score BAI (beck anxiety inventory) score of 8.17 out
of 21 which is in the mild anxiety range. However, non-working students reported lower anxiety
at 4.4, this is considered minimal anxiety (2013). With classes, work, and studying, are these
college students making enough time for sleep?
Sleep is a vital part of every persons life, while everyone requires a different amount it is
still a necessity. A 22 year follow study showed that adults require 7-8 hours of sleep every
night (Hublin et al, 2007). Impaired sleep can create mood problems and is highly associated
with a decline in cognitive functioning (Unwin et al, 2013). If college students are not getting
enough sleep their brain will not be functioning at a sufficient level. It is hard for a person to
pass classes when their ability to think is impaired. The American College Health Association
stated that up to 60% of students reported problems with sleeping and 20.8% of students
reported deteriorating academic performance in relation to sleep difficulties (2014).
According to Unwin, Goodie, Reamy, and Quinlan sleep disorders can include poor
sleeping habits, delayed sleeping, and insomnia (2013). Insomnia is more a more severe form
of a sleep disorder. Lund, Reder, Whiting, and Prichard gave more specific reasons that may
cause a student to be unable to sleep such as, an erratic sleep schedule, stress, excess noise, and
sharing a bed (2010). A college students sleep schedule is usually anything but steady. Their
schedules differ on weekdays and therefore they have different bed and wake times almost
every day. Of course, there is also the weekend, when many students get extra sleep. A working
college students sleep schedule could be disturbed by their job. Or extra homework they were
unable to get done previously because of work. Lund et al. also took notice that college students
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

sleep schedule tends to differ from high school students in that they stay up later and rise later in
the day (2010).
The amount of sleep a student gets is not the only important variable. The quality of sleep
can be extremely important as well. In 2008 a study of 16,679 students it found that 62% of
students reported having poor sleep (Becker). A persons sleep can be easily disturbed and
constantly waking up indicates poor sleep quality. Those who feel exhausted during the day are
less likely to attend class and do well in school.
It was hypothesized that Bowling Green State University students who were employed
would report less hours of sleep at night then unemployed students. This mostly due to the
extra time that they spend at work instead of their studies. On top of going to class and work,
these students must do homework and prepare for exams in their free-time. It was thought
that the study would show a high overall correlation for students missing class in favor of
sleeping. Finally, using the previous research it was hypothesized that at least 75% of the
students surveyed would have a job.
Methods
The survey was produced individually over a period of time. The surveyor used the
examples provided in the PowerPoint to figure the set-up of the questions. The surveys were
passed out as convenience sampling. They were passed out in classes of the surveyor, as well as
a few dining halls on campus. 75 surveys were passed out and only 61 were viable for the
survey. Seven surveys were not returned and the rest were not filled out properly for review. The
questionnaire can be viewed at the end of the paper in Appendix 1. The data was then gathered
and recorded by hand for the surveyor to examine. However, visual examples were needed so
the information was entered into SurveyCrest to be viewed again. The website provided an easy
way to organize and examine the data as well as a way to view data graphically.
Results
Of the students who took the survey 29% (24 people) were male and 61% (37 people)
were female. The students ages ranged from 17-32, however, the mean age was 21 and a
majority of the students were age 20, 21 and 22. Of the 61 respondents 38% were seniors, 31%
were juniors, 20% were sophomores, and 11% were freshman. All but five students were
considered full time students. These five students worked and went to school, they had less than
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

12 credit hours. Working students had GPAs ranging from 2.5 to 3.8 with the average being 3.33.
Non-working students had a GPA ranging from 2.6-3.8 with an average of 3.26. 67% of the
students who participated in the survey had jobs (41 people) while 33% (20 people) did not. The
next part of the survey was only answered by the 41 people who indicated that they had a job.
17 stated that they worked on campus, 23 said they worked on an off campus location and one
person did not answer this question. The amount of hours the students reported working can be
seen in the Graph 1. The largest amount of people reported that they worked 16 hours or more.
90% of the students stated that they worked 11 or more hours a week. 44% of them worked 21
hours or more.

Graph 1. How many hours a week the students work

How many hours a week the students work

14
12
10
8
6
Number of people 4
2
0

Hours per week

The students were asked to rank the importance of studying, free time, work, sleep and
attending class. SurveyCrest recorded that the overall rank was studying, attending class, sleep,
work, and lastly free time. The students were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed
or disagreed with certain statements. When asked if they were satisfied with their job 7%
reported strongly agree, 23% reported somewhat agree, 7% stated that they had no opinion, 39%
said they somewhat disagree, and 24% stated that they strongly disagree. When asked if they
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

found their job to be stressful, 10% replied strongly agree, 32% somewhat agree, 10% said they
had no opinion, 34% said they somewhat disagree, and 14% said they strongly disagree. The
next statement asked if students often pick up extra shifts. 10% said strongly agree, 54% replied
somewhat agree, 7% had no opinion, 22% somewhat disagree, 7% strongly disagree. When
asked if their job was challenging students stated whether or not they disagreed or agreed with
the statement. 2% said they strongly agreed, 34% said they somewhat agree, 10% of respondents
had no opinion, 32% somewhat disagree, and 22% strongly disagreed. Finally in the Likert
scale, they were asked if their job requires extra work at home. 0% replied strongly agree, 32%
replied somewhat agree, 20% had no opinion, 20% somewhat disagreed, and 28% strongly
disagreed.
The last question asked to only the working students was whether or not they missed
work to catch up on sleep. To which 68% replied no and 32% said they had. The non-working
students continued the questionnaire at question 12. Overall 51% of students working and nonworking said that they slept at least 6 hours but less than 9 hours on weeknights. The amount the
students sleep per weeknight can be viewed in graph 2 divided by working and non-working
students for comparison.

Graph 2: Hours of sleep in working students vs. non-working students.

Hours of sleep in working students vs. non working

60%
50%
40%

Percentage of students 30%

20%
10%
0%
0 to 2

3 to 5

6 to 8

9 to 1112 or more

Hours of sleep
Working

Non-working

Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

Students were then asked to report what time they usually go to bed. The times divided
by working and non-working students can be seen in Graph 3. One respondent skipped this
question. The most common time among both working and non-working students was 1 AM.
There were some outliers in this data, one non-working student goes to bed at 10 PM and
oppositely three working students go to bed at 4 AM. The data shows while 21% of nonworking students went to bed at 2 AM or after, 51.2% of working students went to bed at 2 AM
or later.

Graph 3: What time students usually go to bed.

Times students go to sleep in percentages

40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%

Percent of students

Time usually go to sleep

Working

Non- Working

The next question asked students if they ever delayed sleep in order to complete school
work. Once again one respondent choose not to reply. Overall 85% of the students reported that
they delayed sleep at least once a month. Of the working students 39% claimed that they
delayed sleep 5 times or more in a semester, while only 26.30% of the non-working students did.
Approximately, 59% of students felt that they did not get enough sleep, while 41% felt they did.
The final question asked the students if they had ever skipped class to catch up on sleep. 60.6%
of students stated that they had and 39.4% said they had not.
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

Discussion
The biggest surprise from this survey was that only 67% of the students surveyed
had a job. Previous research had stated that 72% of college students had been employed. Given
the research and the surveyors experience on campus it was assumed that at least 75% of
students would have jobs. It is possible that the low amount of workers was related to the fact
that 20% were sophomores and 11% were freshman. The average age of the students was 21,
this is a fairly accurate depiction of college students. However, there were outliers, a few
students were 17 and there was also a 26 year old and a 32 year old. Many college students do
not start working until later into their college career. The fact that five students were part-time
probably skewed the overall percentage more towards working students. As all five of these
students were employed.
The next part of the survey was for working students only. It was necessary to have
information solely about them and information to compare to the non-working students. A
surprising amount of students worked on campus. It was initially assumed that a large majority
students would work off campus. However, 17 out of the 41 had a job on campus. While this is
still less than 50% it was more than expected. The United States census had said that a majority
of working students were either working full time or were working over 20 hours a week. This
survey found similar results. 44% of students were working 21 hours or over. Also, due to the
way the question was asked it is impossible to tell how many students worked 20 hours exactly.
If this information was available, it is highly possible that a larger portion of students would be
working 20 hours or over. It was interesting to see that no students worked over 41 hours, but
not surprising. Working that many hours and attending school would be extremely hard.
The overall ranking found was studying, attending class, sleep, work and lastly free time.
Sleep should not be a persons number three priority. While studying and attending class are
important, to be able to do these things efficiently a student needs to be getting the proper
amount of sleep. It was actually expected that work would be the last priority. Many of these
students are working part-time at places like restaurants, grocery stores and retail stores. Many
people who work at these locations are not that concerned with their job. However, the wording
of this question may have effected their answer. With their replies we cannot tell if it is

Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

important for them to attend work, put effort in at work, or have a job. It would be interesting to
see the results if this question had been worded differently.
The Likert scale did not turn out well, the only statement with truly significant results
was whether or not the students were satisfied with their jobs. 30% of the students agreed with
the statement while 63% said they disagree. This is a significant difference and it shows that
overall the students were fairly unhappy with their job. This was not surprising, as stated above
many of the jobs college students have are not related to their future career. The jobs that college
students work are not something they are passionate about, it is just something that provides a
pay check. When asked if their job was stressful the reply of agree and disagree was pretty much
equal. This statement really depends on where the student works. About 61% of students pick
up extra shifts often. Which means that they probably work more than stated above. How
challenging a students job was did not provide significant results either. However, 48% of
students stated that their job required no extra work at home, while 32% did. Since, another 20%
had no opinion it is hard to interpret the results.
When asked what time the students go to bed there is fairly significant evidence that a
majority of working students go to bed later than non-working students. 51.2% of working
students went to bed at 2 AM or after while only 21% of the non-working students did. The
evidence found in his survey seem to imply that non-working college students are able to go to
bed at an earlier time then working students. It would be interesting to see why this is. Was it
for free time, work, or studying? It was surprising to see that three working students did not go
to bed until 4 AM. It is hard to imagine that students are able to get a sufficient amount of sleep.
To get the 7-8 hours recommended they would have to sleep until 11am-12pm. This is not very
easy for a college student to do on weekdays.
One of the last questions asked students if they every delayed sleep in order to complete
school work. It was worded this way to include all-nighters, but to also represent staying up a
few extra hours. Over 85% of students replied that they had done this at least once a month.
This is not a surprising statistic at all. At some point in the semester a students workload
increases significantly for a period of time. Theres that one week where they have a
presentation, two exams, and a paper. When this occurs sleeping is not a priority it is a hassle
and last resort.
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

The data for students who felt like they were getting enough sleep and those that felt they
were not was surprisingly close. There was only a difference of eleven students. This was
surprising it was assumed that most college students would feel as if they do not get enough
sleep. Especially given the late hour they go to bed. The research had pointed towards students
feeling as though they have gotten poor sleep. There could be several reasons for this response,
one of them being that while 7-8 is thought to be the best amount of sleep it is not that way for
everyone. Some people are truly able to run on less hours of sleep than others.
Two of the questions in the survey were designed to be compared. The working students
were asked if they had ever missed work to catch up on sleep. 68% said no and 32% said they
had. This statistic went along with what was hypothesized. Many places of business have serious
repercussions for students who call off, this generally includes a write-up. Also, many students
cannot financially afford to miss work. This question was designed to be compared to the
question asking students if they had ever skipped class in order to catch up on sleep. An
astounding 60.6% of students had said they had. Of those 60% more than half of them were
working college students. The data certainly implies that college students who work are more
likely to skip class.
Despite the fact that this study showed that many college students sleep less hours, go to
bed later, and skip class more often their GPA is not that different from non-working students. In
fact the average is a little higher at 3.33 versus non-working students at 3.26. Most working
students are aware of the fact that they have to work extra hard to get things done in time. Also,
a lot of these students are more aware of the money that it is costing them to go to school, and
are therefore going to try hard to keep up. While the hypothesis that at least 75% of students
would have a job was off, not all of the hypotheses were. It was assumed that a large number of
students would miss class in order to catch up on sleep. Overall 60% of them stated that they had
done this, which goes along fairly well with the hypothesis. The last theory was that employed
Bowling Green students would have less hours of sleep then unemployed students. This
hypothesis was both right and wrong. It was right in the way that more working students
reported getting only 3 to 5 hours of sleep then non-working students. Also, in that more nonworking students slept 9 hour or more. However, a majority of students working and nonworking got 6 to 8 hours of sleep.
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

There are obvious limitations to this study. For one, this was a small population even for
a sample of just Bowling Green Students. 61 people is not enough to compare the results to the
whole school, or even other college students. With such a small population the outliers made a
big difference. In a larger group they would not have had such an effect. Also, with such a small
population the chances that there were errors is even higher. Some of the questions could have
been worded differently and there is a chance that responders were confused by them. Finally,
convenience sampling is not the best method for conducting a survey. It is quick and easy to do
but it does not provide a very good example of the population. A random sampling would be
more accurate.
In conclusion, the data from this specific survey shows that college students who work
are more likely to get less sleep, and go to bed later. They are also more likely to skip class in
order to sleep. However, this study also shows that this has little to no effect on their grade in
comparison to students who do not work. This study cannot be used to make theories on the
whole university as there were too many limitations, the main one being the small population.

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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

Appendix 1
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey to the best of your ability.
1. Please indicate your gender
a. Male
b. Female
2. What is your current age? ___________
3. Please indicate your current class ranking
A. Freshman
B. Sophomore
C. Junior
D. Senior
4. What is your current gpa? _________
5. How many credit hours are you taking? ________
6. Do you currently have a job?
A. Yes
B. No
If NO please skip to question 12
7. Do you work
a. On-campus
b. Off-campus
8. How many hours a week do you work?
a. Less than 6 hours
b. At least 6 hours, but less than 11 hours
c. At least 11 hours, but less than 16 hours
d. At least 16 hours, but less than 21 hours
e. At least 21 hours, but less than 31 hours
f. At least 31 hours, but less than 41 hours
g. 41 hours or more

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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

9. Please rank the following in order of importance from 1 to 5 where 1 is most important to
you and 5 is least important to you
[ ] Sleep
[ ] Work
[ ] Attending class
[ ] Studying
[ ] Free time

10. Below are some statements regarding your work. Please indicate to what extent you agree
or disagree with each statement.
I am
satisfied
with my job
I find my job
to be
stressful
I often pick
up extra
shifts

Strongly
agree

Somewhat
agree

No opinion

Somewhat
disagree

Strongly
disagree

Strongly
agree

Somewhat
agree

No opinion

Somewhat
disagree

Strongly
disagree

Strongly
agree

Somewhat
agree

No opinion

Somewhat
disagree

Strongly
disagree

I find my job
to be
challenging
My job
requires
extra work
at home

Strongly
agree

Somewhat
agree

No opinion

Somewhat
disagree

Strongly
disagree

Strongly
agree

Somewhat
agree

No opinion

Somewhat
disagree

Strongly
disagree

11. Have you every missed work to sleep?

a. Yes
b. No
12. On average how many hours of sleep do you get on a weeknight?
a. Less than 2 hours
b. At least 2 hours, but less than 6 hours
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

c. At least 6 hours, but less than 9 hours

d. At least 9 hours, but less than 12 hours
e. 12 hours or more
13. At what time (to the nearest hour) do you usually go to sleep on weekdays? ________

14. How often do you delay sleep in order to finish school work?
a. Never
b. Once a semester
c. At least 2 times, but less than 5 times a semester
d. At least 5 times, but less than 10 times a semester
e. More than 10 times a semester
15. Do you feel that you get enough sleep?
a. Yes
b. No
16. Have you every missed class to sleep?
a. Yes
b. No

Resources

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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

Becker C., Adams T., Orr C., and Quilter L. "Correlates of Quality Sleep and Academic
Performance." The Health Educator 40.2 (2008): 82-9. Web. Retrieved: 12 Apr. 2015.
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ863513.pdf
Bland H., Melton B., Welle P., and Bigham L. "Stress Tolerance: New Challenges for
Millennial College Students." College Student Journal 46.2 (2012). Web. Retrieved: 6 Apr. 2015.
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ994224
Davis J. "School Enrollment and Work Status: 2011." United States Census Bureau. U.S
Department of Commerce, Oct. 2012. Web. Retrieved: 26 Mar.
2015. https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-14.pdf
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journalCode=cede20#.VS16MPnF9j8
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Disturbed Sleep in a Large Population of College Students." Journal of Adolescent Health 46
(2010): 124-32. Web. Retrieved: 6 Apr. 2015.
"National College Health Assessment: Spring 2014 Reference Group Data
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Pern L. "Introduction." Understanding the Working College Student New Research and
Its Implications for Policy and Practice. Sterling: Stylus, 2010. Web. Retrieved: 26 Mar. 2015.
Unwin B., Goodie J., Reamy B., and Quinlan J. "Care of the College Student." American
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Observational Study on the Effects of Work on Amount of Sleep in College Students

Mounsey R., Vandehey M., and Diekhoff G. "Working and Non-working University
Students: Anxiety, Depression, and Grade Point Average." College Student Journal47.2 (2013):
379-89. Web. Retrieved: 6 Apr. 2015.
http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/88413468/working-non-working-university-studentsanxiety-depression-grade-point-average

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