Balancing the demands of school and work: stress and employed hospitality students

Abstract

Stress can be viewed as a positive or negative experience in the lives and performance of today's college students. This study examined exposure to stressors among student‐employees (i.e. those enrolled in hospitality programs while concurrently employed in the hospitality industry). Results could not only help employers, but also hospitality program administrators and faculty more aptly meet the needs of this group by providing services that would help manage student stress and thus enhance well‐being and increase retention. Based on responses obtained from a sample of students in the great lakes region of the USA, the results suggest no significant differences in stress ratings based on hours worked per week, GPA or the number of jobs held. However, females, freshmen and full‐time (versus part‐time) students reported a greater degree of exposure to stressors.