PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT IN HIGH-SCHOOL AND ITS EFFECT ON ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT

Part-time employment during high school has grown dramatically. High s chool students are twice as likely to be working part-time as they wer e in 1950. Despite the fact that many adolescents work between the age s of 12 and 17, little empirical evidence exists about the impact of p art-time employment on academic performance, In the present research, the nationally representative sample of 10th graders, the First Follow -Up of the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS-88), was used to examine the effects of part-time work during the school ye ar on academic achievement, as measured by the standardized achievemen t scores and high school grades earned in 4 subject areas: English, ma thematics, science, and social studies. The findings of the study poin t to a small negative effect of employment on both measures of achieve ment when socioeconomic status, gender, and previous achievement were controlled. The study helps to illuminate an important question and ha s implications for parents, educators, and counselors.