The Relationship Between Low-Income College Students’ Time Use and Well-Being: A Mixed Methods Exploration

Recent reports show that low-income students make up a significant share of those participating in higher education, and their well-being constitutes a key factor that influences their college success. This mixed-methods study examined first-year, low-income students’ time use and its relationship to well-being framed by an equity-oriented lens that recognizes the time constraints low-income students navigate. Our mixed methods findings identified the link between time use and well-being and—critically—empirical explanations for these links. First, leveraging a unique experience sampling survey design and multilevel analyses, we found that attending class, studying or doing homework, and working for pay were consistently and adversely related to low-income students’ well-being. Low-income students who were also first-generation in college fared worse than continuing-generation students when engaging in these experiences. On the other hand, socializing was positively related to low-income students’ well-being. Second, an exploration of longitudinal data from hundreds of student interviews illuminated two primary factors that shaped the relationship between low-income students’ time use and well-being: (a) structuring time and developing a routine, and (b) the power of reflection and meaning-making. These findings provide important novel insights about low-income students’ college experiences and the relationship between their time use and well-being, and offer crucial guidance for educators on how to support low-income students’ well-being as they navigate college.

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Notes

This study is part of a larger funded project examining low-income student success defining low-income as no more than $10,000 Expected Family Contribution as reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). While other studies have defined low-income based on other measures, such as parent education or first-generation status, FAFSA is a widely used federal measure to determine students’ family income and financial need and thus one the project leveraged to define low-income. The

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA Joseph A. Kitchen, Ralitsa Todorova & Zoë B. Corwin
2. Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA Nicholas A. Bowman
3. Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA Lauren N. Irwin

1. Joseph A. Kitchen