Working university students increasingly face the dual burden of employment and academic responsibilities, a challenge intensified by the demanding urban mobility conditions in Metro Manila. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived commuting experiences of working criminology students and how these experiences shaped their academic engagement and well-being. Eight (n = 8) working Bachelor of Science in Criminology students from a private higher education institution were purposively selected for the study. Data were gathered through semi-structured, in-depth interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s phenomenological method. Four interconnected themes emerged: persistent time pressure characterized by rushing and sacrifice of personal time; heightened vigilance and safety awareness shaped by traffic risks and environmental threats, with prayer serving as a coping mechanism; criminology-informed discipline and situational awareness as adaptive resources during commuting; and cumulative physical exhaustion that compromises academic focus and performance, prompting compensatory efforts. The findings reveal that commuting functions as a critical lived space where employment demands, academic expectations, urban risks, and survival strategies converge. While criminology training fosters resilience, behavioral regulation, and adaptive coping, these competencies do not fully mitigate the structural burdens of prolonged commuting and the fatigue it causes. This study underscores the need for student-centered institutional policies, including flexible scheduling, workload sensitivity, and wellness support mechanisms tailored to working students. Recognizing commuting as a significant determinant of academic engagement and well-being is essential for promoting equity, persistence, and sustainable professional development in criminology education within high-density urban contexts.
Narag et al. (Sat,) studied this question.