Track Position, Futility Culture, and Involvement With Paid Work: Investigating the Correlates of Lower-Track Students' Involvement with Part-Time Employment in Flanders

This study investigates in the context of Flanders (Belgium) whether working part-time during the school year is more prevalent in lower tracks than in higher tracks, and whether this might be due to an antischool culture and/or the less demanding nature of such tracks. Additionally, the study examines whether the higher tendency to fail and to drop out in lower tracks is associated with the fact that lower-track students are more likely to work. Multilevel analyses of data from 6,373 students in 44 secondary schools show that a school's futility culture explains lower-track students' higher participation with paid work rather than the school's demanding nature. The results do not show a relation between students' employment and educational attainment. However, students working part-time are less inclined to plan high school completion.