Working Beyond Limits: A Phenomenology of Harmonizing Work and Life among Filipino Working Students

Efren L. Burgos MAT, Mervin Kianne T. Flores, Reiner James L. Adolfo, Aldwin Jonel C. Cabanos, Dwight Dave E. Mirabel, Karl Marion T. Oligo, Justine Jillian C. Itoralba, Keith Ingrid O. Victoria

Academic Adversity, Dual Role, Financial Adversity, Personal Adversity, Qatar, Work Adversity

Background: Nowadays, the current trend of working while studying, grows more prominent than before. Interestingly, students who are employed have different coping mechanisms in to balance their work and life. Method: This qualitative paper made use of a phenomenological research design to understand the lived experiences and perceptions of the participants, specifically Filipino working students, relative to the central question: “How do Filipino Working Students balance their work and life?” Data were gathered through a thirty-six semi-structured interview; and were analyzed using an inductive approach. Findings: Findings have shown the barriers and struggles of Filipino working students in terms of work adversity, academic adversity, financial adversity and personal adversity; which implies the different obstacles that Filipino working students go through when they decided to work part-time while studying. Conclusion: Students who worked due to their reasons to gain early work experiences, improve specific skills, and gain income. However, adversities are expected to arise during their time in working. Thus, students also benefited from the responsibilities that resulted from their dual role as both students and employees in many ways. Recommendation: To fill in with the literature gap, this paper suggests to future researches that balancing work and life while studying is an important aspect as a working student. Thus, proper management and prioritization are needed to avoid the adversities and to venture more on success.