The Effects of Employment on Academic Performance Essay Example for Free

The Effects of Employment on schoolman Per degreeance EssayABSTRACTThis noesis get a lines factors that jar bookmans engaged in stipendiary transaction dapple translateing in a 3rd accountancy program in a regional Australian university. It examines the differences in take of interior(prenominal) and transnational schoolchilds. no(prenominal)direct operative kind was demonst point amid digesting(a) involution and schoolman functioning for the overall study sample. There was a arrogant blood bring amongst gainful occupation and pedantic deed with respect to domestic educatees. However, in the case of world(prenominal) bookmans a negative family race among compensable usage and pedantic sprain was observed. A strong verificatory birth amongst a shift engage pattern of gainful manipulation and pedantic mathematical process was found.The Effects of Employment on Academic Performance of Australian history scholarly persons1. Int roductionThis study makes a contribution to the literature identifying and examining the factors that impact schoolchild mental process in tertiary write up programs. Much of this existing literature is turn up within the United Kingdom and noth American institutions. Documented factors in these studies include the impact of gender, prior knowledge of bill, pedantic aptitude, mathematical background, previous flex experience, age, associate size and class attention.However, to a greater extent recently, observations of chronicle academics suggest a new factor to be examined in the Australian context, the socio-economic circumstances as represented by their need for paid employment of write up pupils. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in recent prison name more than than students be now do chokeing eon canvas, reducing the date available and quality of their efforts towards their business relationship system studies, for example many students miss or do no n prep atomic amount 18 for classes. University administrators wealthy person n angiotensin converting enzymed concern ab unwrap student engage patterns and student handiness to miss time on their studies and servingicipate in the university community disembodied spirit (Rudkin and De Zoysa 2007).The contribution of this paper is to examine the impact of paid employment circuitage studying on the academic performance of students in an accounting program in Australia. The impact is examined logical argumentiveiating amidst domestic and global accounting students. This dichotomy is pregnant because on that point is currently a large external student muniment in accounting programs in Australian universities driven by government immigration policy to address a skills shortage (Birrell and Rapson 2005).There is likewise a shortage in confrontation the demand for accounting graduates in the domestic assiduity cooccurring with a shift in the funding mechanisms for Au stralian domestic university students in recent course of instructions. The impact of the trade demand for a skilled workforce and the effects of existing student funding on work pickicipation requires outline. This paper investigates 2 aspects first whether thither is a relationship between paid employment and student performance, and secondly if there is a difference between the experiences of domestic and global students in paid employment and academic performance. Survey data of 170 enrolled students enrolled in a third course of instruction 12 credit point financial accounting subject at the University of Wollongong in the autumn session of 2006 was lay in for this study.2. Prior ResearchThere have been few studies set that examine the relationship between student participation in paid employment and their academic performance in a tertiary accounting program. There have been no studies set by the authors that examine the difference in employment on tertiary academic performance between domestic and international accounting students in Australia. Gul and Fong (1993) conducted a Hong Kong study on first division accounting students, and found predictors of academic achievement to be personality type, tier ups achieved at the school certificate in mathematics and accounting, and previous knowledge of accounting.A study by Wooten in 1998 examined 271 students taking introductory accounting at a major(ip) south-eastern American university of which there were 74 students identified as non- traditionalistic defined as aged 25 years or older, and 127 traditional students aged beneath 25 years. Wooten found that for the traditional cohort grade history, motivations and family responsibilities all influenced the amount of effort these students made. However, neither two-timing(a) activities nor work responsibilities influenced their effort.However for the non-traditional students, motivation was the plainly variable that importantly influenced effor t. Neither grade history nor cheating(a) activities, nor work responsibilities, nor family responsibilities had an effect on motivations. Family activities had a significant negative impact on effort for the traditional students, but non for the nontraditional students. It is conjectured by the authors of this paper that these differences in ages may also capture different socio-economic circumstances. Gose (1998) found an increase in the number of students employ over time, with 39% of students works 16 or more minute of arcs per week in 1998 comp bed with 35% working in 1993.Naser and Peel (1998) and Koh and Koh (1999) documented much search through with(p) on common predictive factors of academic performance in accounting courses, including gender, prior knowledge of accounting, academic aptitude, mathematical background, previous working experience, age, class size, lecturer attributes and student effort. However, they none the findings ar non definitive.An Australian study done by Dobson and Sharma (1999) examined the relationship between student performance and the toll of failure, noning both the human beings and the private dimensions to the cost of failure. Similarly the Australian study by Booth et al. (1999) examined factors that impact upon accounting student academic performance, but failed to incorporate a socio-economic dimension. Booth et al. (1999) used the Approaches to L put one overing paradigm from the command literature to investigate the skill approaches of accounting students from two Australian universities, as compargond to previously report data for Australian arts, education and science students. This study provided evidence that Australian accounting students tend to waste a superficial approach to learning typified sur formula learning such as rote memorization, term apply cut deep learning approaches than their counterparts in Australian arts, education and science studies. Whether this is due to work factors has not been investigated.Wijewardena and Rudkin (1999) undertook a study of students enrolled in a first year accounting program at a regional Australian university. They identified that students attendance at tutorial classes, the commitment of a major in accounting and a demonstrated interest in accounting correlate positively and significantly with academic performance. They also find that local students perform better than their overseas counterparts and that part-time students (who work serious time) exceed wide of the mark time students.Cheung and Kan (2002) contributed to the limited studies done exterior the Western context. They examined factors related to student performance in a distance learning business communications course in Hong Kong. Their results based on studying 168 students demonstrateed females outperformed males, and a positive correlation between previous academic achievement and related academic background and student performance (p261). A positive c orrelation was found between tutorial attendance and student performance and between previous learning experience and student performance. No relationship was found between semester course loads and student performance. The results argon consistent with prior Western studies.A welsh study by Gracia and Jenkins (2003) undertaken in the second and last(a) year levels of an accounting stop considered gender, prior year performance and students application to study and their relationship to student performance. Gracia and Jenkins fence that academic failure creates both stirred and financial costs for students, and that significant cultural differences may be attributed to academic success. This study found that if students atomic number 18 actively committed to self-responsibility for their studies, they tend to do well in formal assessment. They also found females outperform males in the second year and that there is a negative correlation between age and grades. learners who have work experience perform significantly better than students who go straight from the second to the final year. They argue that the work experience allows students to get their finances in order thereby reducing the need for them to earn money spell studying in the final year, thereby reducing financial and time instruction pressures.Vickers et al. (2003) while not specific to students that study accounting, examined the effects of part-time employment of students on their participation and rubbing in tertiary study in Australian universities. They report that the proportion of just-time students undertaking work has increased between 1990 and 2000 from 46% to 56%. They find that an inverse relationship between the number of face to face course hours and the drop out rate of tertiary students, with the more hours of classes the little the drop out rate.They also found that students working 20 or more hours per week ar more app atomic number 18nt to drop out of tertiary stu dy by clx 200% than those who work less than 20 hours. Vickers et al. also find that students receiving Youth Allowance are more likely to drop out of tertiary study than those who do not receive Youth Allowance, despite the fact that the majority of this group do not work part time. They also observe that the odds of dropping out of university decrease by 31-32% if a student is from the blueest socio-economic quartile as opposed to the lowest. Those who work between one and 20 hours per week are just as likely to continue in study as those who do not work at all during their studies. The Vickers et al. study is important because it signifies a change in the university experience not barely for students but also for academic staff who t from each one working students.Strong and Watts (2005) investigated factors affecting accounting student gladness at a small public university in New South Wales. They found improvements in the effective allocation of casual and dear time staff and the introduction and of common subject outlines go to improvements in student performance indicators of satisfaction. Consistent with this theme, Hutcheson and Tse (2006) explained student non-attendance in class as student satisfaction with the teaching performance and course delivery.Nonis and Hudson (2006) note that the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLAs Graduate School of Education has found that since 1987 the time students spend studying outside of class has declined each year, with simply 47% spending six or more hours per week studying outside of class compared with 34% in 2003. Nonis and Hudson (2006) identify a need for empirical research to determine the impact of student work on academic performance, and its impact on the design of academic programs. Their study found a lack of evidence for a direct relationship between times worn-out(a) working and academic performance.Sullaiman and Mohezar conducted a study at the University of Malaya in their MBA prog ram. They found conflicting evidence of the impact of work experience on student academic performance. They note studies by McClure, Wells and Bowerman (1986), Schellhardt (1988) and Dreher and Ryan (2000) finding a positive relationship between work experience and academic performance, but studies by Dreher and Ryan (2000, 2002 and 2004) Dugan et al. (2006) and Graham (2001) and Peiperl and Trevelyan (1997) found no relationship between students working and their grade point modal(a). Sullaiman and Mohezars study found that work experience is not related to MBA performance.Hutcheson and Tse (2006) at the University of Technology Sydney found that on average students who attended more than half of the tutorials obtained a higher final mark than students who did not, and that this was particularly so for international students. This begs further research as to why, when students wages high fees for classes, they do not attend. This paper identifies the need to investigate whether t he need to work is one come-at-able reason for this finding.De Zoysa and Rudkin (2007) undertook a pilot study examining the relationship between academic performance and student socio-economic circumstances, which did not find a direct significant relationship between the number of hours of paid employment and student academic performance in accounting. However, a significant positive relationship between shift workers and academic performance was found.James et al. (2007) undertook a non-discipline specific study encompassing a come of 18,954 Australian public university undergraduate and postgraduate students. They found 70.6 per cent of full-time undergraduates reported working during semester two, 2006, working on average 14.8 hours per week, with one in every six full time undergraduate student working more than 20 hours per week. For students enrolled in a part-time pattern, 41.8 per cent were working at least 38 hours per week, which effectively means full time employment . The study found many students worked significant hours merely to afford radical living necessities such as transport, books and study materials, with 39.9 per cent of full-time students and 54.1 per cent of part-time students believing their work adversely impacted upon their studies.The study of this paper contributes to the literature in that it uniquely examines differences between domestic and international accounting students in the Australian context of the impact of undertaking paid employment on their academic performance in a subject of an undergraduate accounting degree. This study makes two contributions to the accounting education literature. First, rather than a predominant focus on first year students, this study examines second and final year accounting students in a regional Australian context. It uniquely examines differences between domestic and international accounting student experiences.3. MethodSubjects of this study were drawn from School of accounting and Finance at the University of Wollongong, a regional Australian university. The accounting program is professionally accredited with both requisite professional accounting bodies, CPA Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. The degree is a full time collar year program, with admission based on the standard University Admissions Index (UAI), or equivalent. Specific to these entry requirements, mathematics is not a compulsory entry requirement, though is recommended. There are no domestic undergraduate full fee paying students admitted to this degree. A prescribed program of study is required, with both compulsory accounting subjects using a necessary system, with opportunity for more liberal electives.This study undertook a vision of 170 third year students in their final compulsory financial accounting subject in 2006. The students were scruples about their academic experiences and socio-economic circumstances in the prior session, the Australian Sprin g Session 2005. To obtain a complete sample, students who failed their prerequisite subject in the prior session Spring 2005 were also surveyed to obtain a representative population. Academic performance for the purpose of this study is determined as the final grade in the second year financial accounting subject, ACCY201, studied in spring session 2005.The research was conducted by paper surveys give out in compulsory tutorial classes in the last week of session. Participation in the survey was optional. Both day time and evening tutorial classes were surveyed, to ensure a representative mix of both part time and full time patterns of study and work commitments.Of the 170 students surveyed, 101 (59%) of students are domestic students while 69 (41%) are international students. Those enrolled part time in the sample of 170 students are 34 (20%) while those enrolled full time are 136 (80%) of the sample. Of the domestic students, 45 (45%) are male and 56 (55%) are female. More domest ic students are enrolled full time than part time, with 69 (68%) being enrolled full time compared with 32 (32%) being enrolled part time. More males are enrolled part time than females, with 18 (56%) of males enrolled in a part time pattern compared with 14 (44%) of females in part time study. There are 27 (39%) of domestic males compared with 42 (61%) of domestic females enrolled in a full time study program.Australian government regulations require that international students be enrolled in a full time study pattern. The survey sample reflects this, with all but two of the 69 international students being enrolled full time. It is surmised that the two males enrolled in a part time pattern are completing remaining subjects needed to satisfy beginning requirements which would arise if subjects must be repeated. The pattern of male and female international students is analogous to that of domestic students in the sample, with there being 30 (43%) international male students compar ed with 39 (56%) international female students. These demographic enrolment patterns are illustrated in Table 1 Enrolment Pattern beneath, which describes the relationships of male and female, full time and part time, and domestic and international students. INSERT elude 1 ABOUT HERE4. Results and DiscussionFive aspects meeting to the relationship between student employment patterns and their academic performance will be discussed. First section 4.1 will discuss the relationship between the hours worked in paid employment by students and their academic performance. Secondly, section 4.2 examines the type of employment humor students undertake and its impact on academic performance. Thirdly the impact of the nature of the paid work done by students and its impact on academic performance is considered in section 4.3. Section 4.4 explores the impact of travel time between students places of employment, the university and their residences on academic performance. Section 4.5 docume nts student perceptions on the impact of their paid employment on their academic performance.The research in these aspects seeks to discover the employment commitments of both full time and part time accounting students, whether the nature of this is different between international and domestic students, and whether these factors impact positively or negatively on the academic performance of accounting students. For the purpose of the survey, those working 20 hours or less a week are regarded as part time workers, consistent with the Australian government working regulations of student visas for full time international students. This is also consistent with a survey undertaken by Vickers et al. (2003) which while not unique to accounting students, found that 20 hours per work of paid employment was a significant indicator with respect to student performance because students who worked above this amount were most likely to withdraw from university study.4.1 The relationship between h ours worked and academic performance. The survey gathered data on the employment patterns of the sample. Of the 170 respondents to the survey, clxv answered the examination of whether or not they were working in paid employment. Of this 165 sample size, 38 (23%) indicated that they were not in paid employment during the survey study period, while 127 (77%) indicated that they were in paid employment, either working full time or part time.The study seeks to compare the work patterns of students with their academic performance in accounting. Of the 165 students that answered in the affirmative to working while studying, subject results relevant to the period of their work was available for save 144 students. Therefore the sample size was reduced to 144 surveys. Academic performance was classified into three bands. The first band captured students achieving below 44 marks in a subject, indicating paltry performance and a fail grade. The second band captured students achieving between 45- 64 marks indicating a right performance in harm of achieving a pass conceded or pass grade only. The third band captured students achieving a final subject grade of 65 or better, indicating a good performance of a credit grade or better in a subject.The research reveals no significant relationship between the hours worked by a student and their academic performance in an accounting subject. 44 (31%) out of 144 students achieved poor academic performance. 49 (34%) achieved a satisfactory academic performance, while 51 (35%) achieved good academic performance. Of these students 31 (22%) did not work in paid employment, 71 (49%) worked between 1 and 20 hours per week, and 42 (29%) worked in paid employment 21 hours or more per week. This is illustrated in Table 2 Hours Worked and Student Performance, shown below. INSERT mesa 2 ABOUT HEREThe survey results were thence tested to determine if there was a different relationship between the number of hours per week spent in paid empl oyment and academic performance between domestic as compared to international students in an accounting subject. The results show the impact is different for each group. Acknowledging the limit of the small sample size of only four domestic students not working, the results show that domestic students who are working perform better academically than those who are not working.However, the finding for international students is the reverse. transnational students who are working perform less well academically than international students who do not work in paid employment. While possible reasons can be conjectured such they are working longer hours for lower rates, the determination of such factors is outside the scope of this paper. This is illustrated in Table 2.1 Hours Worked and Student Performance Domestic Students vs International Students as shown below. INSERT fudge 2.1 ABOUT HEREIn the table above, it is shown international students in the poor student performance band demon strate that as the number of hours of work increase, the does the percentage of poor performing students.When considering student paid employment in the range between one and twenty hours per week, there are different relationships unembellished between employment and academic performance for international and domestic students. There were 43 domestic students and 28 international students who indicated they worked between one and 20 hours per week. Of the international students who work between one and twenty hours of paid employment per week, 12 (43%) were in the poor performance band, 10 (36%) were in the satisfactory performance band and 6 (21%) were in the good performance band.This is compared with the domestic student trends for paid employment between one and twenty hours per week which showed only 9 (21%) of domestic students in the poor performance band, 8 or 19% fell into the satisfactory performance band, and 26 or 60% met the good performance class criteria. This demon strates that while part time employment between one and twenty hours a week is more consistent with better academic performance than not, the reverse is evident for international students. Those international accounting students who worked between one and twenty hours were more likely than not to demonstrate poor academic performance.This trend is more apparent in the band of hours worked per week being 21 hours and above. There were a total of 36 domestic students falling into this category, compared to only 6 international students. It is noted that under international student visa requirements, a maximum allowed paid employment is 20 hours per week. There were 6 international students who indicated they worked 21 hours and above, outside this legal requirement. Of these 6, 4 (67%) fell into the poor performance category of a fail grade between 0 and 44%.There was one international student in each of the other two categories. This again is a different trend to the domestic student experience. Generally domestic students working more than 21 hours per week in paid employment performed less well than similar students working only between 1 -20 hours. 10 (28%) of domestic students working 21 hours and above achieved a poor performance grade, while 18 (50%) achieved a satisfactory grade and 8 (22%) achieved a good academic grade.These results show that domestic accounting students who are working perform better than those who are not working. However, for international accounting students the opposite trend is evident. Specific explorations to the reasons for these opposing trends are outside the scope of this initial survey. However, further analysis of this finding is offered from research done by Rudkin and De Zoysa (2007) who undertook a study of the socio-economic conditions of accounting students at a regional university in Australia in a comparable period. They undertook a survey of student hourly pay rates. Their findings are given in Table 3 below. INSE RT TABLE 3 ABOUT HERERudkin and De Zoysa (2007) undertook a pilot affectionate account from 162 questionnaires from students in their second session in the second year of an undergraduate accounting degree at a regional Australian university. In this survey students were asked to indicate their average gross pay rate. Hourly rates varied from under $10 an hour to $21 per hour and above. This data was then further analyzed for the purposes of this paper, finding differences between the pay rates achieved between domestic and international accounting students, as shown in Table 3.1 below. INSERT TABLE 3.1 ABOUT HEREOf the students who are paid less than $10 per hour, 90% of these are international students. Rudkin and De Zoysa (2007, p.95) found that 18% of students in their study found were illegally underpaid while 20.7% indicated they tangle exploited in their employment. It is conjectured by the authors that international students are more vulnerable to illegal and exploitative work practices with lower pay rates, and so must work longer hours to achieve the income necessary to support their study. This is identified as an area for further research.4.2 Type of employment pattern and academic performance.This section examines the relationship between the type of employment mode the students are employed under and their academic achievement in an accounting subject. Three categories of employment of students were identified, permanent work, casual work or contract work. Although conditions and entitlements vary across industry of employment, the three categories are reflective of patterns of work conditions, and entitlements with respect to vacation, sickness and family leave, stiff hours, guaranteed income and hourly paid rates. The authors sham that students employed in permanent positions have access to paid leave, more economic certainty compared to students employed on a casual or contract basis, but they would also have less flexibleness in their emp loyment.Of the sample surveyed, 112 students gave valid responses to the question of the nature of their employment to the three options of permanent, casual or contract. 18 students (16) indicated they were in permanent employment. There were no international students employed in a permanent position. boilers suit 87 students (78%) stated they were employed under casual conditions. Of these 87 students 57 (66%) were domestic students and 30 (34%) were international students.A casual employment pattern is most predominant in the international student grouping, with only 57 out of a total of 79 (72%) domestic students who responded to the question indicating casual employment. This is in contrast with the international student cohort, where 30 out of 33 (91%) were employed on a casual basis. The number of students employed on the basis of a contract were minimal, with only 7 (6%) of students working in this form of employment. These results and their relationship to student academic performance are summarized in Table 4 below. INSERT TABLE 4 ABOUT HEREThe chi-square test found no significant relationship between the mode of employment and student academic performance in an undergraduate accounting subject. However, it can be observed that students employed as a permanent worker performed better (22% poor performance compared to a combined 78% for satisfactory and good performance) compared to students employed as a casual worker (31% achieving a poor performance band) and as a contract worker (57% achieved a poor performance band). However, any comparison between domestic and international students of this data is not meaningful due to the small numbers in each category.4.3 constitution of work patterns and performanceThe authors investigated whether regardless of the mode of employment, the nature of the work patterns that student employment required may impact on their academic performance. It was assumed that students who worked shift work did not have a unchangeable work and study pattern preventing or hindering their participation in classes and class preparations.That is, students working maverick shift work times and hours would experience different attendance and study patterns and opportunities compared with those students who worked set hours at level(p) times. Students were asked to nominate whether their regular work pattern was changing shift work to a roster, or regular hours. 87 valid responses were received to this question. 58 students (67%) indicated that they worked changing shift work compared with 29 (33%) who indicated they worked regular hours. The results of this question are shown below in Table 5. INSERT TABLE 5 ABOUT HEREAn unexpected significant positive relationship was found between students who work changing shift work academic performance. Only 12 (21%) of student working changing shift work compared to 21 (72%) of those working regular hours were classified in the poor student performance band. 80% o f students in the changing shift category achieved satisfactory or good academic results while only 27% of students with regular working hours achieved similar results.There were similar results observed between domestic and international students in this respect, with 69% of domestic students and 61% of international students working changing shift work hours. Only 14% of domestic students doing shift work achieved poor results, while 60% of students working regular hours achieved poor results. All of the 9 international students doing regular hours failed the subject. These relationships are expound in tables 5.1 and 5.2 below. Table 5.1 gives a comparison between domestic and international students work patterns, and Table 5.2 below shows the relationship between both domestic students and international students work patterns and their academic performance.INSERT TABLE 5.1 ABOUT HEREINSERT TABLE 5.2 ABOUT HEREReasons for the favourable relationship between shift work and academi c performance have not been sought in this study, but are identified as an area for further research. Conjecture as to the reasons include greater flexibility for students working shift work to arrange their rosters around their university class and designation commitments, and the possibility that jobs requiring night shift work such as garage attendants require a front line but only ad hoc activity and so allow time on the job to be spent studying and completing class work.4.4 Travelling time and performance.The location of the university of this study is an Australian university located approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney in the state of New South Wales. It is a regional university that includes the southerly parts of Sydney in its catchment area. Many students travel by public transport being rail from Sydney and a limited local bus service. The travel time from Sydney to Wollongong is approximately 1 hours journey one way. Students residing or working in Sydney face a daily three hour transport commitment.Such a journey is not uncommon as the regional area has a high local unemployment rate and many students seek paid employment outside the region in Sydney. It is the assumption of the authors that time spent by students travelling detracts from their academic performance both because of the fatigue factor of travelling distances, and because travelling time is time not available for academic pursuits. Students were asked to indicate on average how long did a typical journey take you to travel to the university. A heavyset of the results to this question is given in Table 6 below. INSERT TABLE 6 ABOUT HEREIt is observed that 46% of students surveyed are spending more than one hour travelling each way when they attend the university. It was assumed by the authors that time spent travelling has a cost to the students both in time available at the University for study and financially in terms of the cost of how many days they attend the universit y. It was assumed that if students are working, the time spent travelling in addition to the hours they spend in paid employment has a combined impact on their handiness to participate in academic tasks.The relationship between time spent travelling and student performance was measured. No significant relationship was found between travelling time and academic performance of students who are not working. However, there is a significant relationship between academic performance and travelling time with students who are working. It was found that students who spend less time travelling perform better academically than students who spend more time travelling to university. This results are described in Table 6.1 below. INSERT TABLE 6.1 ABOUT HEREStudent perception on the impact of work on studies.The authors were interested in observing the perceptions of students of the impact of their paid employment on their academic studies. Students were asked whether my exam and / or assessment marks would have been better if I had not been working. Out of 124 valid responses from students who are working to this question, 51 (41.1%) answered in the affirmative, while 73 (58.9%) answered in the negative. That is, 41% of the students surveyed thought that their work interfered with their studies.Students who indicated they were in paid employment were also asked the question whether or not they missed classes because of their work. 110 valid responses were received to this question. 42% indicated that they always missed classes because of their work commitments, while 11% indicated that most of the time classes were missed because of work commitments. While the findings suggest that there is no significant relationship between the amount of paid employment per week that students undertake and their academic performance, it does suggest that these students are deprived of a full academic experience in terms of full engagement with the campus community, networking opportuniti es and similar. The responses of students who admitted lacking(p) classes because of paid employment are shown below in Table 7. INSERT TABLE 7 ABOUT HERE separate reasons for missing classes given for students were that they were not prepared for class, because they lacked motivation, because they did not find the classes useful, because they had other illness or family or personal reasons, and because they had work commitments to complete in other subjects. The rankings of these reasons are given in table 7.1 below. INSERT TABLE 7.1 ABOUT HERE5. Summary and ConclusionsThis study examines the relationship between employment and the study of accounting students in Australia. presumptuousness the high incidence of paid employment in the accounting student population and its impacts on academic performance, this study has ramifications for the nature of accounting program delivery in the Australian context in terms of times classes are offered and flexibility in delivery modes, and the quality of the university education experience with which students can engage.Limitations of this study include use of self reporting by students, a small sample size. In addition, findings pertain to a regional university in the Australian context. While many tertiary institutions in Australia are regional in nature given the geographic and demographic characteristics of the country, this experience may be different and not generalisable to metropolitan institutions in Australia and outside the Australian context. Further testing at other institutions would contribute to the knowledge of the relationship between paid employment and academic performance for accounting students.This study makes four findings. First, this investigation did not find a direct significant relationship between the hours students worked in paid employment and their academic performance in an accounting subject. However, contradictory results did emerge with respect to differences between domestic stude nts and international students in a cohort.Secondly, while there was a positive relationship between paid employment and academic performance in relation to domestic students, there was a negative relationship between paid employment and academic performance for international students. Thirdly, with respect to international students, although a statistically significant relationship was not found, it seems that the academic performance of international students not working is better than that of working international students. Fourthly, a significant positive relationship between shift workers and academic performance was revealed that offers no perspicuous explanation and is identified as an area needing further research.With respect to the quality of university education experience of accounting students, there are indicators that accounting students may not be optimally engaging in a full university experience because of work pressures. There were 9% of students are found to be working fulltime and studying full time simultaneously. The fact that many choose to miss classes for work commitments does not afford them the opportunities associated with campus life including generic skill development of a social nature, networking with their future professional peers, and engagement with the benefits of cultural win over with an international student body.Given that Vickers et al. (2003) found if students work more than 20 hours per week they are 160%-200% more likely to drop out of university, this has implications for attrition rates in accounting courses also. The authors contest that there is a need to explore further to understand the positive and negative impacts of paid employment on academic performance, and why differences exist between domestic and international students. 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