Editorial

Abstract

Our journey in life brings us many opportunities, and these can be very positive indeed. However, an opportunity might, at the same time, be something that taxes us in some way, whether physically, mentally or both. Some of them might be fairly easily resolved, but some of them can prove to be a major challenge. This is the case whether this concerns our work environment or our personal one, and it is no less so for us, academics, as it is for our students. As the authors of the first article in this issue tell us, whether we need to maximise the opportunities that come our way or when presented with situations that might perhaps cause us setbacks of some type, we have to draw on the personal characteristics, our psychological reserves, that we possess, such as being adaptable, flexible, our level of optimism and our confidence. Whether in response to a positive opportunity or instead to a tricky challenge, resilience is one of the personal characteristics that we need to draw on. As with any other characteristic, skill or ability, some of us have high levels of resilience and others may have very low levels of this. The authors, Anne E Goodenough, Hazel Roberts, David M Biggs, James G Derounian, Adam G Hart and Kenny Lynch, all at the University of Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom, tell us that resilience is multifaceted, and that if our students are to respond as well as they might to the opportunities and also to the setbacks that they face, the higher their level of resilience that they possess, the better. Entitled ‘A higher degree of resilience: Using psychometric testing to reveal the benefits of university internship placements’, as the title makes clear, this article looks at resilience when it comes to something that we encourage all of our students to undertake, that is, an internship/a work placement. Part of our role as academics is to prepare our students for the workplace, and the authors cite research which points to the role that plays when it comes to not only attainment and engagement but also employability. The article provides an overview of the importance of resilience, and it covers aspects such as the view held by those who employ our graduates that they often do not possess the skills and abilities required of them in the workplace, thus leading employers to have to provide extra training. Whether the expectations of the employers are reasonable or not, or that we, in universities, are doing enough to prepare them for the workplace is, as the authors rightly say, a moot point. However, regardless of anyone’s view on this, no one could or would argue that our role is to foster the skills and abilities that our future graduates need for the workplace, or, more accurately, for life more generally. Such skills and abilities are not workplace specific, after all, and while all of us spent many hours at work, we spend far more of them outside of the workplace, where the opportunities and setbacks are no less important or challenging. Indeed, they are arguably more important and/or challenging. The article covers skills such as collaboration with others and effective communication, and that those of emotional intelligence, adaptability, responding well to challenges and recovering quickly from any setbacks are those which are associated with resilience, going on to say that there are many types of this. The article provides an insight into aspects such 914814 ALH0010.1177/1469787420914814Active Learning in Higher EducationBaldwin editorial2020