Some further reflections on the effect of employment on attendance

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I offer some further reflections on the relationship between student employment and classroom engagement, in response to Hanretty’s discussion of my original article on the topic. First, I note that the data we’d ideally need to study this relationship properly doesn’t exist. Second, I suggest that Hanretty and I are pursuing subtly differing goals – he seeks the best estimate of a statistical relationship, while I am trying to make practical policy recommendations at the level of an academic department. Third, I gently push back against Hanretty’s injunction against the use of a post-treatment variable in my original paper, noting that there are good theoretical reasons for thinking my original argument – that not all hours of employment affect attendance equally – should work. Finally, I conclude that while it is true that students who work more hours are less likely to engage well with their studies, this relationship is conditional in part on factors that academic departments might realistically be able to influence.