Trying to keep up - The experience of combining full-time VET with work

Oct 15, 2026

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Maintaining a healthy work-life relationship is a major concern for students in vocational education and training (VET) who must combine study and paid work under growing financial and time pressures. Working students, especially those on low-income jobs, experience high levels of stress, time strain, and interference with activities beyond work and TAFE. A study using an interpretivist mixed-methods approach examines how work, life, and study intersect to shape perceived work-life interference and student experiences.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Sarah’s work-life-study pressures

Background

Combining VET and work

Outcomes and challenges of working while studying

44 ‘Trying to keep up’ ‘Trying to keep up’: The experience of combining full-time VET with work Michelle Morris Student Services, TAFE SA Regency Campus Maintaining a healthy work-life relationship is important for the health and wellbeing of individuals and families. This is also true for students studying in vocational education and training (VET) who face increasing pressure to combine study and work. The intersecting commitments of work, life and study create a range of demands for individuals, which, in turn, impede worklife satisfaction. Time and money have been shown to be the biggest factors affecting people who combine work and VET-particularly for workers in low-income jobs, which constitute the biggest employment source for VET students. Data from a research project at TAFESA indicates that working students experience high levels of stress, time strain and interference with activities outside work/TAFE. The work life outcomes for full-time students DUH VLJQL¿FDQWO\ ZRUVH WKDQ RXWFRPHV IRU ZRUNHUV LQ WKH JHQHUDO SRSXODWLRQ􀀑 Michelle Morris 45 Introduction Sarah is a 20-year-old cookery student studying full-time at a Technical and Further Education institution in South Australia (hereafter ‘TAFE’) . She attends TAFE from 10am until 7.30pm, 5 days per week. Her weekends are spent working day-shifts in a local lowpaid job. Sarah describes herself as a social hermit: she has no time for catching up with friends and family due to her intersecting work and study commitments. Sarah needs to work in order to pay her TAFE fees and the increasingly expensive cost to live independently in Adelaide. She has no local family she can turn to for support and feels isolated from her housemates due to the lack of time she has to contribute to household responsibilities. Time and money are of the essence for Sarah. She survives week-to-week, and at times foregoes eating nutritious food in order to pay for her living expenses. Sarah DOPRVW DOZD\V IHHOV VWUHVVHG DQG SUHVVHG IRU WLPH􀀏 DQG LV GLVVDWLV¿HG with her capacity to maintain her closest relationships. Sarah is H[SHULHQFLQJ ZRUN􀀐OLIH FRQÀLFW􀀑 &RPELQLQJ VWXG\ DQG ZRUN FUHDWHVVLJQL¿FDQW GLI¿FXOWLHV IRU 6DUDK􀀏 ZKR GHFODUHG µLW¶V VWUHVVIXO WU\LQJ WR keep up...’. Sarah’s passion for cooking is the one thing that sustains KHU LQ WKLV GLI¿FXOW VLWXDWLRQ􀀑 6DUDK LV RQH RIWKH SDUWLFLSDQWV RI D recent study into the work-life experience of working vocational education (VET) students. Her experience illustrates the kinds of work-life-study pressures many students experience, and which this article seeks to illuminate. In recent years, working has almost become the normal occurrence for full-time tertiary students. Analysis of VET populations shows that almost two-thirds of full-time students are undertaking paid employment, and many work long hours in potentially low paid industries (Polidano & Zakirova 2011). The combination of paid employment and study has a number of effects on education, including pressures on academic engagement (McInnis & Hartley 2002), and lower completion rates (Polidano & Zakirova 2011) . In DGGLWLRQ􀀏 D VLJQL¿FDQW ERG\ RINQRZOHGJH H[LVWV UHJDUGLQJ WKH QHJDWLYHHIIHFWV IRU ORZ􀀐LQFRPH HDUQHUV DULVLQJ IURP ZRUN􀀐OLIH FRQÀLFW 􀀋3RFRFN 􀀕􀀓􀀓􀀜􀀌􀀏 DQG WKH VLJQL¿FDQWO\ KLJKHU ZRUN􀀐OLIH FRQÀLFW H[SHULHQFHG E\ low-paid workers who engage in VET (Skinner 2009; Pocock et al. 46 ‘Trying to keep up’ This article reports on a study conducted to explore the effects of combining full-time study and work using a work-life perspective (Morris 2011). The study used an interpretivist theoretical approach, incorporating a mixed methods design of questionnaire and interviews to explore VET students’ reasons for, and experiences of, combining study and work, and looked at their perceptions of worklife interference. The key focus was to examine the intersection of work, life and study commitments. The research highlights aspects of work, life and study interference experienced

FAQs

Why is work-life balance important for VET students?

VET students often face increasing pressure to combine study and work. The overlapping commitments create demands that impede satisfaction and can harm wellbeing.

What factors most affect students who combine work and VET?

Time and money are identified as the biggest factors. Evidence links working patterns, especially in low-paid jobs, to stress and interference with non-work activities.

How does the study investigate the work-life experience of working VET students?

The study uses an interpretivist theoretical approach with a mixed methods design combining questionnaires and interviews to explore reasons, experiences, and perceptions of interference.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McGucket