BBA308 Report: Lifestyles of International Students and Challenges

This report investigates the lifestyles of international students, specifically focusing on the challenges they face while balancing their studies and part-time employment. The study identifies the increasing trend of international students working to support their expenses and the resulting difficulties in maintaining a balance between work and academics. The research employs a qualitative approach, including unstructured interviews with undergraduate and postgraduate students to understand their experiences, motivations, and the problems they encounter, such as stress, sleep deprivation, and difficulty prioritizing. Secondary data from governmental websites and scholarly publications supports the primary findings. The report aims to pinpoint the reasons behind student stress, evaluate their prioritization skills, and determine the impact of working overtime on their well-being and academic performance. Ethical considerations are also addressed, ensuring participant consent, anonymity, and adherence to academic standards. The findings suggest that students who maintain a balanced work schedule can successfully manage their studies and benefit from their work experiences.

Running head: LIFESTYLES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Lifestyles of International Students
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1LIFESTYLES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Abstract
With the increasing cost of higher education along with the increasing cost of living, it has been
monitored that the students, who are perusing higher educations are taking up part time
employments along with their studies. In addition to that, the professional experiences tend to
help these students in their future career. Hence, more students are willing to employ their free
time in working. However, it is also noticed that the students taking up employment are more
likely to face problems while balancing between work and study. The research hence aims at
identifying the possible problems that these students might face and the possible solutions of
these problems.

2LIFESTYLES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Table of Contents
Define the Problem..........................................................................................................................3
Approach to the Problem.................................................................................................................3
Research Design..............................................................................................................................4
Ethical Issues...................................................................................................................................4
Secondary Research Findings..........................................................................................................5
Reference.........................................................................................................................................7

3LIFESTYLES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Define the Problem
It has been noticed that the international students, who are studying in the universities and
colleges are opting for part time employment in order to support their life styles and expenses. It
has been seen that along with passing time, the practice of working while perusing higher studies
has risen considerably (Bailey, 2014). Along with the rising trend, the students are finding it
difficult to cope up with the difficulties of working while studying. The primary problem that
these students face are maintaining a balance between their studies and the working hours
(Andrews et al., 2013). Along with that the students often fail to cope up with the pressures of
performing both the activities together. It has been observed that these students often work in
night shifts or for late hours, as they have to attend their classes prior to that (Beiter et al., 2015).
As a result, they often find it difficult to attend the morning classes. Hence, as a consequence of
it, either they are becoming sleep deprived or they miss morning classes. In both ways, they are
subjected to stress and lose their spontaneity. In this regard, it can also be said that these students
often lack in setting up clear priorities between employment and study (Mounsey, Vandehey &
Diekhoff, 2013). As a result, their studies get affected in most of the cases. The purpose of the
study hence is to analyze the problems these students face while handling the stress between
studies and part time jobs.

4LIFESTYLES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Approach to the Problem
In order to understand the problems it is necessary to take up qualitative approach. The students
will be interviewed regarding the problems they are facing. In addition to that, the motivational
factors that are driving them to work will also be analyzed. The reason behind selecting
unstructured and in depth personal interview is that it will help in the process of better
understanding of the situations of these students. It will also be helpful in understanding if
money is the only motivational factor that are influencing these students to work (Chernomas &
Shapiro, 2013). Moreover, focus will also be given to the benefits of working while studying.
The objectives of the research are:
 Identify the possible reasons of stress amongst these students
 The efficiency of the students in setting their priorities
 Identifying the problems the students face in attending morning classes
 The problems of sleep deprivation of the students working overtime.
 To identify the reasons behind losing spontaneity
Research Design
The research includes both primary and secondary data collection methods. Secondary data
collection will be done taking helps of governmental websites and scholarly publications only.
Whereas the primary data collection has been done by taking interviews. In addition to this, the
interview methods for the research will be unstructured and will be based on a particular focus
group. To perform the research, the interviews will be taken to five undergraduate and five
postgraduate students who are working in different sectors. Individual depth interviews will be
taken in order to have a better understanding of their situations and the problems they are facing.

5LIFESTYLES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Ethical Issues
While performing the qualitative research all the ethical aspects have been followed. Prior
consents have been taken from the students, who have been interviewed. In addition to that while
performing qualitative research, the students have been interviewed within a favorable and
comfortable set up. No participant has been forced to answer uncomfortable questions. The fact
that this research is to be done only for academic purpose is also emphasized. In addition to that
the anonymity of the participants have been maintained. All the ethical guidelines will strictly be
followed throughout the entire process. In collecting primary data, no participants will be forced
to provide their feedbacks. Each and every participant of the survey has given consent and signed
willingly before asking questions. Moreover, no symbol or logo, of any company or organization
has been used in the dissertation. The fact that this research is to be done only for academic
purpose is also emphasized. Hence, there will be no content that can be referred as advertisement
of certain organization. All necessary permissions and authorization letters has been taken from
the university, prior to the survey. In addition to this, in order to do secondary research, proper
citations and credits will be given. Hence, there is no chance of the paper being plagiarized.
Hence, there should not be any issue regarding violation of rules and regulation.
Secondary Research Findings
From the research it has been observed that the international students who are working part time
are prone to face problems regarding maintaining the balance between their studies and work
(Epstein et al., 2014). However, it has been noticed that the students who followed the prescribed
norms of not working more than fifteen hours a week are able to maintain a healthy balance

6LIFESTYLES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
between studies and work. Multiple researches has already been done to specify the working
hours of these students (Bailey, 2014). These findings are expected to be helpful in reaching to
the conclusion that the students who are working overtime are more likely to face the problems
of stress, anxiety and lack of balance between studies and work (Quaye & Harper, 2014). In this
regard it can be said that the students working on their free times can also be benefitted by the
experiences if they are able to maintain the balance between the two.

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Reference
Andrews, J. G., Singh, S., Ye, Q., Lin, X., & Dhillon, H. (2013). An overview of load balancing
in HetNets: Old myths and open problems. arXiv preprint arXiv:1307.7779.
Bailey, S. (2014). Academic writing: A handbook for international students. Routledge.
Beiter, R., Nash, R., McCrady, M., Rhoades, D., Linscomb, M., Clarahan, M., & Sammut, S.
(2015). The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of
college students. Journal of affective disorders, 173, 90-96.
Chernomas, W. M., & Shapiro, C. (2013). Stress, depression, and anxiety among undergraduate
nursing students. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 10(1), 255-
266.
Epstein, C. F., Seron, C., Oglensky, B., & Saute, R. (2014). The part-time paradox: Time norms,
professional life, family and gender. Routledge.
Mounsey, R., Vandehey, M., & Diekhoff, G. (2013). Working and non-working university
students: Anxiety, depression, and grade point average. College Student Journal, 47(2),
379-389.
Quaye, S. J., & Harper, S. R. (Eds.). (2014). Student engagement in higher education:
Theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations. Routledge.