Réussir à l'université avec un emploi salarié

Using data from a randomized social experiment conducted in French Univesité du Maine in 2010-2012, we investigate how to mitigate the negative impact of student work on academic achievement. The experimented program consisted in proposing the students, willing to work, an access to a large set of job offers, collected from local firms and compatible with college schedule. A total of 468 students participated in the trial and half of them (the test group) have accessed more than 2 000 job offers with diverse contents in terms of wage (close to minimum wage), contract duration or sector of economic activity (sales, services, home care and personal assistance, education, etc.). The aim of the program was to enlarge and diversify job opportunities of students and offer them a better balance between the college studies and employment. Our results indicate that access to better suited jobs has enhanced student employment : those in treatment group have worked more often than their peers from the comparison group (65 % versus 54 %). The jobs occupied via the program were short term jobs, occurring during the week and during the day (rather than in the evening and on the week-end), with a flexible schedule, better fitting college constrains. These ?quality? jobs were characterized by slightly higher hourly wages, but lower global earnings. At the same time, such intensified involvement of students in the labor market did not result in lower academic achievements, which suggests that it is possible to reduce the negative consequences of student work by improving the quality of their jobs, where quality does not necessarily mean higher wages, but more flexibility and better compatibility with studies.