Work-school conflict of non-traditional students: The application of a work and personal characteristics model

Viljoen, Charissa Amadea

Work-school conflict of non-traditional students: The application of a work and personal characteristics model

Master Thesis

2022

Abstract

Working while studying is a popular trend around the world and the number of nontraditional students are increasing. As a result of working and studying simultaneously, workschool conflict tends to occur. There is still some debate as to which characteristics across the personal and work domains most significantly influence work-school conflict. Similarly, the extent to which social support moderates the experience of work-school conflict is unclear. In this study, secondary data was used to examine a model of work characteristics consisting of job demand, job control and working hours, as well as personal characteristics which include marital status, gender and number of dependents. Further, the effect of social support, comprising of family support, co-worker support and supervisor support as a moderator in this work- and personal characteristics model was also explored. The respondents of this study (N = 367) were from either a South African or American context and the characteristics in both contexts were explored. The analysis revealed that the proposed work- and personal characteristics model is not significant; and social support does not moderate the relationship. Furthermore, this research study found that there are different significant predictors of workschool conflict across the two distinct contexts.