Effects of Workload on Academic Performance among Working Students in an Undergraduate Engineering Program

Abstract

In the Philippines, the supply of engineering graduates produced per year is lower than the demand as local industries are becoming engineering-related. This poses a challenge to academic institutions to fill this gap. Assessment reveals low graduation rate in the Engineering programs in the Philippines, where approximately 35.4% of the students are working at the same time. With the aim to help these students prevent possible retakes, the proponents explored and analyzed the effects of workload on academic performance and the factors associated with it. NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) was utilized to measure students’ workload in this study. Recommendation presented in this research are interventions to support physical and mental health to better cope in a high workload environment, which will in return translate to better work and academic performance thus an increase in graduation rate.