Fostering academic resilience in higher education

Abstract

Introduction: Students who develop resilience are more likely to sustain high levels of achievement, motivation, and performance despite the presence of stressful conditions. Method: Sixty-eight collegiate students completed pre- and post-Academic Resilience Scale-30 assessments before and after a brief, virtual educational program on common resilience strategies. Subjects then ranked the strategies in the educational program as “most helpful” and “least helpful.” Results: Data analysis revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between pre- and post- Academic Resilience Scale-30 scores, suggesting that the educational program improved resilience. Discussion: Subject ranking of strategies further revealed that the most helpful strategies were mantras and cost/benefit analysis while the least helpful strategies were mantras, writing down feelings, and cost-benefit analysis. Conclusion: Educational resilience programs have the potential to improve resilience amongst students enrolled in higher education. However, due to the conflicting opinions found in the rankings of strategies, future studies and resilience programs should focus on providing a variety of strategies to best support a diverse student population.