This guide aims to enhance your understanding of resilience, its significance in academic success, and the ways you can enhance your resilience throughout your time at university. By increasing your awareness and taking proactive steps to develop your resilience, you will be better equipped to navigate the challenges that may arise in your personal life, studies, and career (Brewer et al, 2019).
If you are struggling with your resilience, you are not alone. A large-scale study of undergraduate and postgraduate students revealed that 45% exhibited low levels of resilience (Agteren et al, 2019). Resilience is particularly crucial for students in higher education, where academic demands can be significant due to multiple assessments and frequent changes or challenges. If you feel more adversely affected by setbacks or challenges, you may possess lower levels of resilience (Goodchild, Heath, and Richardson, 2023). However, this does not imply that students with high resilience do not experience stress or difficulties; rather, their resilience enables them to be self-aware and effectively address challenges and setbacks. Resilience teaches you that you can learn from both failure and success. You can foster resilience through the improvement of skills, understanding motivation and learning processes, and adopting a growth mindset.
Initially, resilience seems like a straightforward term, but it is acknowledged throughout literature as being difficult to define due to being a multifaceted concept. The PR6 model by Rossouw and Rossouw (2016) identifies six components that contribute to resilience: vision, composure, reasoning, health, tenacity, and collaboration. Given the difficulty in describing the factors that influence resilience, this model serves as an excellent foundation for identifying the skills necessary for developing resilience. The pages of this guide will assist you in enhancing your resilience in the identified key areas, ultimately enabling you to recover more effectively during challenging periods.
Explore key topics related to the associated PR6 model in this guide to help you develop and enhance your resilience:
Vision: Focus on self-efficacy, purpose, and goals.
Composure: Techniques for stress management, mindfulness, and emotional balance.
Reasoning: Self-regulation and skills in planning, resourcefulness, and reflection.
Health: Importance of sleep, exercise, and nutrition for well-being.
Tenacity: Emphasising perseverance, locus of control, a growth mindset, and optimism.
Collaboration: Building relationships, teamwork, and confidence.
References
Agteren, J. V., Woodyatt, L., Iasiello, M., Rayner, J. and Kyrios, M. (2019) ‘Making it measurable: Assessing psychological distress, wellbeing and resilience at scale in higher education’, Student Success, 10(3), pp. 1-13.
Brewer, M. L., Kessel, G. V., Sanderson, B., Naumann, F., Lane, M., Reubenson, A. and Carter, A. (2019) ‘Resilience in higher education students: A scoping review’, Higher Education Research and Development, 38(6), pp. 1105-1120.
Goodchild, T., Heath, G. and Richardson, A. (2023) ‘Delivering resilience: Embedding a resilience building module into the first-year curriculum’, Student Success, 14(2), pp. 30-40.
Rossouw, P. J. and Rossouw, J. G. (2016) ‘The predictive 6-factor resilience scale: Neurobiological fundamentals and organisational application’, International Journal of Neuropsychotherapy, 4(1), pp. 31-45.
