Announcing the Final Examination of Celena Ziems for the degree of Doctor of Education
Date of defense: February 23, 2017
Time and room: 12 noon to 2:00 pm in ED 306
Dissertation Title: Balancing Multiple Roles: A Re-Examination of how Work Impacts Academic Performance for Community College Students
This study investigated how work impacts academic performance for community college students, from a multiple role balance perspective. Perna (2010) called for a re-examination of the role of work in college students’ lives, especially regarding the exploration of benefits, rather than just the detriments of working while studying. According to Karp and Bork (2014), more research was also needed on community college students and how they balance multiple roles. Exploring the relationship between balancing multiple roles and academic performance may provide new insight into how community college students contend with demanding roles, while striving to achieve academic success. This study was framed by the theoretical understanding of Marks and MacDermid’s (1996) theory of role balance and the instrument used was the role balance scale. Four hundred and three participants, who responded to the online survey containing role balance and demographic questions, were used in the regression analysis to determine how work impacted role balance. Hours worked for pay was a significant factor in predicting role balance, when controlling for demographic and lifestyle variables, among the community college student respondents. For every extra hour worked per week, the role balance score would decrease by 0.02. Demographic and life variables were not significant in predicting role balance. Four hundred and ten respondents were used for the correlation analysis. There was no significant relationship found between role balance and academic performance.
Committee in charge:
Dr. Cintron
Dr. Owens
Dr. Sivo
Dr. Penfold Navarro
Outline of Studies
Major: Higher Education and Policy Studies
The public is welcome to attend.
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