Student resilience : exploring the positive case for resilience

Abstract

Resilience is a word that is increasingly being used alongside student welfare, but what is meant by resilience? This paper takes a closer look at the subject of student resilience and I hope will encourage greater debate, exploration and fresh perspectives. As the paper outlines, while the study of student resilience is still very much in its infancy in the UK, there is recognition that student mental wellbeing is a growing challenge, and one which needs greater consideration. While overall student satisfaction at UK universities is rightly high, it has become clear that not all students find the transition to university life a straightforward one. Unite Students provides a home to around 50,000 students across the UK and our own research findings from the past few years demonstrate that some students can and do face difficulties. This is what prompted us to dedicate a significant portion of our annual Unite Students Insight Report in 2016 to finding out more about students’ own views on resilience by trying to identify some of the challenges surrounding student mental health, isolation and stress. These research insights support the detailed operational data from which we and our partner universities have seen an increase in welfare-related incidents over the last two years, and which encourage us to continually review and improve our operational processes and support services