There has perhaps never been more pressure for students to boost their work-related experiences while studying to obtain graduate employment (Ingram et al., 2023). Therefore, undertaking term-time employment has become a central strategy for many students to enhance their employability (O'Shea, 2020). Many studies have investigated the effects of term-time employment on graduate outcomes (Helyer & Lee, 2014) and highlighted disadvantages that especially first-generation students and women can face when entering graduate work (Bunn et al., 2022). However, little is known about intersectional effects of term-time employment, first-generation status and gender.

We address this gap by investigating (1) whether working alongside studies ‘pays off’ for first-generation students, (2) whether intersectional effects of first-generation status and term-time employment exist and, (3) if so, whether they differ among men and women. OLS-regression based on administrative data of higher education graduates in Austria (N=90,070) were estimated. Graduate labour market outcomes were measured in two ways: the probability of being employed and income (18 and 60 months after graduation).

Results report that first-generation students are less likely to be employed than continuing-generation students and women are less likely to be employed than men. Intersectional effects show that male first-generation students who worked minimal amount of hours during studies are significantly more likely to be employed than male continuing-generation students who worked minimal hours. Working time consumingly during studies (i.e., more than 10 hours per week) also benefits male first-generation students more than male students from academically educated parents according to income. Nevertheless, these differences become smaller over time (between 18 and 60 months after graduation). No differences were found between female first-generation students and female continuing-generation students.

Our contribution to higher education studies is threefold: Firstly, we shed light on a group that tend to work a higher amount of hours during studies, first-generation students, but at the same time, can experiences disadvantages when entering graduate employment. Secondly, we take gender related inequalities into account by investigating intersectional effects of term-time employment, first-generation status and gender. And thirdly, by using data with such a large number of observations we have the ability to study heterogeneous effects among different groups of individuals. The presentation closes with a reflection on how this research can be used to develop recommendations guiding appropriate, fit-for-purpose policies and programs that address deep-running structural inequities regarding graduate outcomes by first-generation status and gender.

References:

Bunn, Matthew; Burke, Penny Jane; Threadgold, Steven (2022): Classed trajectories in higher education and the graduate labour market: affective affinities in a ‘meritocracy’. British Journal of Sociology of Education 43 (8): 1273–1287.

Helyer, Ruth; Lee, Dionne (2014): The Role of Work Experience in the Future Employability of Higher Education Graduates. Higher Education Quarterly 68 (3): 348–372.

Ingram, Nicola et al. (2023): The Degree Generation. The Making of Unequal Graduate Lives. Bristol: Bristol University Press.

O'Shea, Sarah (2020): ‘Mind the Gap!’ Exploring the postgraduation outcomes and employment mobility of individuals who are first in their family to complete a university degree. Perth: NCSEHE.

The Austrian education system is characterised by inequalities of opportunity, with access to higher education being particularly challenging for first-generation students, i.e. those from non-academic backgrounds (Haag et al., 2020; Lessky et al., 2021; Unger et al., 2020). This is problematic insofar as a higher level of education is often associated with a better position in the labour market (OECD, 2023) and an enhancement in self-efficacy (O’Shea et al., 2018).

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an exacerbation of existing inequalities. Measures such as the closure of universities significantly impacted academic and social life, creating challenges particularly for first-generation students (Resch et al., 2023). The tendency for disadvantaged students to drop out of university increased (Koopmann et al., 2023), and particularly students from non-academic backgrounds faced financial difficulties as a result of the prevailing economic situation (Becker & Lörz, 2020).

In this contribution, we analyse how access to higher education has changed for first-generation students at public universities in Austria during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, using administrative data from Statistics Austria. The results show that more students started their studies in the academic year 2020/21 than in the year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a smaller increase among first-generation students compared to those with an academic background. The findings highlight the importance of monitoring disadvantaged groups during crises to prevent worsening inequalities. In our presentation, we contextualise our findings within the broader context of changes, occurring within and beyond higher education, with a particular focus on disadvantaged groups. Subsequently, we present potential explanations for the observed increase in the number of first-year students.

Becker, K., & Lörz, M. (2020). Studieren während der Corona-Pandemie: Die finanzielle Situation von Studierenden und mögliche Auswirkungen auf das Studium. DZHW. Brief, 09.

Haag, N., Thaler, B., Stieger, A., Unger, M., Humpl, S., & Mathä, P. (2020). Evaluierung der Zugangsregelungen nach § 71b, § 71c, § 71d UG 2002. Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS).

Koopmann, J., Zimmer, L. M., & Lörz, M. (2023). The impact of COVID-19 on social inequalities in German higher education. An analysis of dropout intentions of vulnerable student groups. European Journal of Higher Education.

Lessky, F., Nairz‐Wirth, E., & Feldmann, K. (2021). Informational capital and the transition to university: First‐in‐family students’ experiences in Austrian higher education. European Journal of Education, 56(1), 27–40.

O’Shea, S., Stone, C., Delahunty, J., & May, J. (2018). Discourses of betterment and opportunity: Exploring the privileging of university attendance for first-in-family learners. Studies in Higher Education, 43(6), 1020–1033.

OECD. (2023). Education at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing.

Resch, K., Alnahdi, G., & Schwab, S. (2023). Exploring the effects of the COVID-19 emergency remote education on students’ social and academic integration in higher education in Austria. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(1), 215–229.

Unger, M., Binder, D., Dibiasi, A., Engleder, J., Schubert, N., Terzieva, B., Thaler, B., Zaussinger, S., & Zucha, V. (2020). Studierenden-Sozialerhebung 2019: Kernbericht. Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS).

With a proportion of 12%, international students are a relevant but under-researched group at German universities (DAAD & DZHW, 2023). More than half of the international students (53%) are enrolled in STEM subjects and could therefore help to reduce the existing shortage of skilled workers (Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & Grote, 2019). However, the high drop-out rates of international bachelor’s students (41% versus 28% for German students, Heublein et al., 2022) highlight the necessity to better understand the factors that determine international students' academic success in order to implement more tailored interventions.

The (situated) expectancy-value theory (EVT; Eccles et al., 1983; or SEVT; Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) explaines academic success by motivational characteristics such as study-related expectations and value beliefs. A previous cross-sectional analysis (Preuß et al., 2023) showed that the characteristics of these motivational study success conditions (expectation and value beliefs and language skills) of international (STEM) students at the start of their studies in Germany vary according to demographic characteristics or their interaction (in the sense of intersectionality) (Cole, 2009; Crenshaw, 2017). Based on this, the present study uses random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM; Hamaker et al., 2015; Mulder & Hamaker, 2021) to investigate the inter- and intra-individual dynamics between academic self-efficacy, value beliefs, self-rated study-related language skills and the general study satisfaction of international STEM students in Germany over the course of their studies. In addition, inter-individual differences in these variables with regard to gender, parental academic and cultural background and their interaction are additionally considered in order to identify possible disadvantages of specific student groups in the sense of intersectionality. We used data from the first five measurement occasions of a panel study "International Student Survey" (Falk et al., 2021), which covered N = 839 international STEM bachelor's students over the first five semesters of their studies. Possible effects of age and previous stay(s) in Germany were controlled.

The results confirm the relations postulated by (S)EVT between study-related expectations and value beliefs as well as the study satisfaction of international bachelor’s students at an inter-individual level and point to specific disadvantages for (female) international STEM students from some regions of origin regarding to intrinsic motivation and study satisfaction. In contrast, there was little evidence of reciprocal relationships between changes in motivational characteristics and study satisfaction at an intra-individual level over the course of the study program. The results are discussed regarding theoretical implications, the relevance of the intersectional perspective and conclusions for the implementation of intervention measures to increase study satisfaction.