Will work for a college education: an analysis of the role employment plays in the experiences of first-year college students

College students across the United States struggle with the challenges of balancing work and school. In 2005, 29.5% of full-time students worked over 20 hours a week while attending college, with 70.1% of their part-time counterparts in the workplace for 20 or more hours each week (NCES, 2005). Given the reality of work for college students, higher education researchers and educators must recognize that students work for a variety of reasons and need to consider how this phenomenon impacts students' lives. In an effort to foster such considerations, the authors explored college students' attitudes about working while in college and found that students from different social class backgrounds apply different meanings to the role of work in their lives. Bourdieu's (1977a, 1984, 1993) ideas of social capital, habitus, and taste provide a conceptual framework to examine the findings. Recommendations are provided for student affairs professionals based on data and results.