During the time I studied Personal, work and organization, I also worked part time at CIP global executive search. Nearly everyone I know that is studying is also working part-time. Part-time working students are a growing group at many places of work today. 2016 four out of ten full time students in Sweden had a part time job or actively searched for one (Englund, 2016). Students are today an important work force for many companies (Braodbridge & Swanson, 2005). My friend Josefin and I decided to write about this topic in our bachelor thesis, and to focus on full time students with a part time job that was relevant for their education.
The study explores part time working full time students’ experiences of the journey into the organizations where they work. In order to gain a deeper understanding, the theory of organizational assimilation has been used to interpret the students’ experiences. Three research questions have been answered during this study:
- How has their image of the organization changed since the time before they started working there up until today?
- How has the relationships with managers and colleagues in the organization developed?
- What influence has their roles as students and employees had on their journey into the organizations?
Semi-structured life world interviews have been used in the collection of data. The data was thereafter processed using a thematic analysis method. The conclusion of this study is that great variations can be found in the respondents’ experiences of journeying into the organizations where they work. This is because of both individual and contextual factors that influence their journey.
People that work part-time often feels that they don’t have the same organizational knowledge, don’t are as involved and are not as satisfied at work as those who work part time (Sollitto, 2016). In our study some of the respondents had similar experiences. I think that this is important for the companies to be aware of so they can focus on helping not only the full time workers, but also the part time workers to feel assimilated. Do not forget that part time working students are a growing group and that they are important for many companies. Some of the respondents were even offered jobs after they graduated.
Today I work full-time at CIP global executive search. So employees can go from being part-time workers with full-time education to be a full-time worker at your company.
Feel free to read the whole study in Swedish :
References
Broadbridge, A., & Swanson, V. (2005). Earning and learning: How term-time employment impacts on students’ adjustment to university life. Journal of Education and Work, 18(2), 235–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080500086008
Enlund, M. (2016). Bland studenter jobbar kvinnor mer. Hämtad 2018-10-05 från https://www.scb.se/sv_/Hitta-statistik/Artiklar/Bland-studenter-jobbar-kvinnor-mer/
Sollitto, M., Martin, M. M., Dusic, S., Gibbons, K. E., & Wagenhouser, A. (2016). Assessing the Supervisor-Subordinate Relationship Involving Part-Time Employees. International Journal of Business Communication, 53(1), 74–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488414525462
