Chains such as Gloria Jeans, Johnny Rockets and Burger King were a rare sight in Dhaka, something limited to the affluent areas such as Gulshan. However, now these chains along with several high-end locally owned restaurants remain crowded in various parts of Dhaka city.
Activities such as ice skating, bowling etc. are also starting to become accessible to the people of Bangladesh. Travelling around the country and even beyond borders is something not reserved for the socioeconomic elite anymore. The overall living standard, especially the way late teens and young adults lead their lives, has changed drastically. However, a lot of the people who enjoy these things are generally university students without a stable income source, and this is why many university students these days are more likely to take on part-time jobs.
In the past, leisure was not as costly as it is today. Chatting with friends in the local 'tong' has been replaced by chilling in a coffee shop. The conditions of eating out or socialising, in general, has become expensive. The most frequent customers of these customers happen to be undergraduate students. Now to afford lunch or snacks worth Tk 600 or 700, without having a stable income source may be virtually impossible. Hence, students opt for part-time jobs. By teaching a couple of school students or being a teaching assistant in a coaching centre or working as a cashier in a fast food joint, students manage to make sufficient funds to maintain this kind of expensive lifestyle.
Nowadays many undergraduate students take trips whenever they get long weekends and semester breaks. These trips are not long drives to a distant place, but involve going to a different location altogether. The duration of the trips starts from a minimum of two days, meaning that lodgings have to be arranged along with food. Therefore, frequent exposure such as this runs the risk of paying a hefty bill. However, students do not forsake these luxuries, instead they opt to take on more jobs.
Another reason behind undergraduate students leaning towards more part-time jobs is the effect brought about by globalisation. With the youth of our country witnessing and following western culture through movies, TV series, music videos, magazines and various other mediums, the idea of independence is very much ingrained among the young generation of our country. As we see in western society, a person more or less becomes independent once they turn 18. By seeing this, the youths of our country try to earn their own pocket money instead of asking for it from their parents.
The psychology of making more money to cover any financial deficit instead of cutting expenditure is leading undergraduate students to take on paid work. This may be the effect of the overall economic development of our nation. Many people leading high profile lifestyle is a new norm. Owning certain things or eating in certain places has become a ‘necessity’ although previously it was a luxury. This is the primary underlying cause for all the previous reasons, which make undergraduate students tend to take part-time jobs.
On a different note, many undergraduate students take part-time jobs to maintain social status. In our society, if someone does not hold a job, it is perceived as a shortcoming. The same goes for not teaching students in general. If an undergraduate student does not earn any money on their own, it is seen as a flaw in their social status. Therefore, even undergraduate students who can quickly obtain any sum of money from their parents tend to take part-time work.
Thus with all these factors coming into play, undergraduate students tend to do more part-time jobs in Bangladesh these days.
The writer is a first year student of BBA programme at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka. He can be reached at
