Balancing Work and Academic Performances: A Phenomenological Study.

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A Research Study Presented to the Faculty of the

Davao City National High School Senior High School

Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS)

F. Torres Street, Barangay 10-A, Davao City

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In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for

Practical Research 1

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MARY KEZIAH MAGDASAL

YISHA JANE C. NACARIO

TRISHA PATARATA

MARYROSE AYESSA N. SANTARITA

 Background of the Study

Working while studying is really a difficult thing to do, students who work long hours

are more likely to leave school early (Landstedt et al. 2017) . The employment of the

students spreads throughout the world especially during the pandemic as most of them

had nothing to do at home. Most students chose this path due to insufficient income,

indebted, financial problems, and high rising tuition fees.

According to the economic theory that working while studying may smoothen the

transition of school to work. They may gain skills and learn things they might be

unable to learn at school. In contrary, they may learn soft, generic or sector specific

skills at work. (Alfonsi et al., 2017). Being exposed early to this kind of life, will

make you ready on what’s going to happen in the future.

The students who are doing part time jobs while studying that is currently residing at

Davao City was due to financial instability they are facing. Instead of giving their full

attention in their academics, they have to provide for their necessities. Furthermore,

with the increase of working students in this particular area, most of them resulted to

working to be able to continue studying.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority of Davao City, there’s approximately

3.56 million students as of March 2, 2022. The numbers kept on rising as days go by

due to the poverty that the Philippines is facing. Tons of students choose this path not
because they want to, but for them to provide their own needs and wants in life.

Moreover, working students sacrifices their life, their hobbies and even time for

themselves.

Some students found it very challenging to meet the requirements due to the amount

of work that was assigned to them. Moreover, the more time a student spends on

working, the less time he or she engages in academic studies ( Greene & Maggs,

2015; 2017 ) When students spend the majority of their time working, they are

constantly bombarded with homework, chores, and other obligations.

The majority of research examining working students point out that time management

is the most crucial component in juggling work and school while taking classes

(Ikhwan, 2017). Due to unexpected changes, such as their work schedules and

deadlines at school, this could not be applied to every circumstance. In that case, this

study will further elaborate why time management could not be the only solution they

could have.

Most of the previous research studies regarding working students suggests that future

research conducted in this field could be widened involving a higher number of

education institutions to gather more pertinent information. (Vicencio & Banaag,

2019) Such as their gender, demographic differences, and educational status. The

researchers are interested in uncovering the struggles of working students in this

modern era, specifically how they fit their entire work schedule and school workload

in a daily basis. Lastly, this research will be an eye-opener to every people of any age
and will be one of the reason they would not be ignorant about the challenges these

students face.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This study aims to take an in-depth exploration about the certain challenges and

struggles working students face, specifically Senior High School students. The

researchers wanted to explore their experiences to understand how their lives evolved

from being a student in the morning to working in the afternoon till evening.

Furthermore, we wanted to interview those working students on the Senior High

School campus because this study focuses on their struggles and also to understand

further how they manage their time and fit all the activities they have to do in a day.

Lastly, this study mainly investigates the life experiences of those Senior High School

working students at Davao City National High School.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To fully extend the research gap of our study, this qualitative research seeks to

investigate the lived experiences of every Senior High School working student at

Davao City National High School. To be more specific, the researchers will ask the

participants the following questions to aim their goal in this study.

1.) What do you do to manage your time if you have too much to do during that

particular day?

2.) How do you organize your schedule?

 RESEARCH DESIGN

This qualitative study used the phenomenological method in gathering data. The

researchers wanted to further elaborate on the lived experiences of every Senior High

School working student at Davao City National High School. Moreover, the

researchers wanted to acquire datas regarding their set-up between working and

studying. This approach is chosen because this will collect the informations needed to

conduct the study. Furthermore, this study wants to deepen the knowledge about the

struggles of students who works and still manages to comply their needed

requirements in school.

The chosen participants in this study are mainly grade 11 students who are currently

enrolled in Davao City National High School. They are interviewed thoroughly to

help the researchers gather the needed informations with regards to their experiences

in balancing their work and their academics. The researchers wanted to collect the

datas that has a connection to how they handle their studies despite the fact that they

still need to work. To sum up everything that has been stated, all the experiences and

strategies for managing and fitting all their daily activities are all written here in this

study.
 RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

Participants’ in our study would be students from the same year who are studying in

different tracks or strands. We chose the idea of just interviewing those students who

have the same year as us because, aside from being more convenient, we thought that

SHS students have more experience and are knowledgeable enough about the

struggles of a working student. Furthermore, to be more specific, our chosen

participants are studying at Davao City National High School, where the researchers

are also learning and conducting their research. The participants in our study are also

taking Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), Science Technology Engineering

and Mathematics (STEM), Accountancy Business and Management (ABM), and

lastly, the Technical Vocational Livelihood Strand. They are currently in their 11th

year of senior high school. Lastly, to sum up, everything that had been stated, our

team chose seven participants, just enough to meet the standard participant count for

our research.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

This qualitative research study strictly follows research ethics. Like any research, this

study's participants will have the choice to be anonymous to avoid further conflicts.

Research ethics is applied in this study to protect the participants because this is a

phenomenological study using the lived experiences of human subjects. The

researchers aim to provide security to the participants that any information collected

will remain protected once they decide to participate in this research study. During the

data collection process, researchers asked for the participants' consent. They were

given information and background about the study and told that their responses would

be used responsibly. Moreover, the researchers also asked for permission to record the

interview that may happen, so participants would be comfortable while the process

was ongoing. The researchers ensured that the participants getting interviewed would

voluntarily participate in the data collection process in this research without personal

information included, like names, addresses, birthdays, Etc., to avoid any possible

disputes with the chosen participants as we also follow and respect our every

participant as the researchers strictly abide the Republic Act 10173- Data Privacy Act

of 2012 stating that people's data is treated almost literally in the same way as your

own personal property. Thus, it should never be collected, processed, and stored by

any organization without your explicit consent unless otherwise provided by law. To

be more specific, the researchers will only collect the details and information needed

in our study, which is the lived experiences of every working student in Davao City

National High School.

Additionally, participants were informed that they could anonymously participate in

this study. They have the right not to tell their name to the researchers to make them

comfortable. Researchers will do what is right for the sake of the participants. The

researchers strictly follow the confidentiality of the participants due to the fact that the

participants' pieces of information should remain secure. The researchers wanted to

assure the participants that the response would be used accordingly. Anonymity is

also applied to the data collection process so they will be free from any conflicts this

research may encounter. Participants are informed about how their responses will be

used. They will be knowledgeable about what the study is all about.

Moreover, participants are given clear information and are guided on the procedure of

the data collection process. Rest assured that any data acquired during this research

will not be disclosed to those not related to this study. Issues in confidentiality and

privacy may be encountered during the study; however, the researchers will ask for

full consent before disclosing any information. The participants have the right to

withdraw their participation whenever they want to.

Furthermore, anonymity is practiced so that the participants' privacy in this study will

be protected and will not cause harm to the participants who voluntarily wanted to be

a part of this research study. To sum up, everything stated, the participants who will

participate in the survey will have their information protected. They have the choice

to remain anonymous to protect their own identity. The researchers asked for consent

to collect data and record interviews to avoid making the participant uncomfortable.

Thus, participants will not be held accountable and criticized for whatever the result
of this study. Lastly, the researchers will responsibly take action for any issues that

may arise during the data collection process.

On the other hand, the researchers will also take all the participants' answers

professionally without any adverse reactions, violent behavior, and biases. The

researcher will fathom all our participants' responses as we wholeheartedly respect all

the personal experiences and intimate struggles; if there are any, our participants

might share them with us. To be more specific, sharing personal information with us

and the participants' experiences that they don't want to share with anyone else for

some peculiar reason is assuredly safe with us. No sharing of gossip and unnecessary

things will be imposed during our research study and even to the end. Rest assured

that all the information we might get from the participants will already have its grave

for forgetting once we have conducted the study. In conclusion, Voluntary

engagement, informed permission, anonymity, secrecy, the potential for damage, and

results communication are among these principles.