Bouncing back to move forward: resilience of students in the built environment

Development of resilience is considered a critical competency related to work readiness for students of the built environment, given that workers of the construction industry are known to experience high levels of stress, burnout, and work-life conflict. While resilience-based research has been undertaken in university settings, this has excluded students undertaking studies in the built environment. To address this gap, research was undertaken to: (1) develop and validate a measure of student resilience; (2) measure the resilience of students undertaking studies in the built environment; and (3) explore the relationship between resilience and wellbeing. Data was collected from undergraduate students based in Melbourne, Australia. Results identified a student profile of resilience and wellbeing-related measures of subjective happiness, depression, anxiety, and stress. Findings have practical implications for educators within the built environment. Universities can actively support student wellbeing by fostering resilience. It is possible that resilience can be developed by identifying initiatives which can be embedded within course structures, learning activities and assessment tasks. Building on these findings, further research is underway to explore the definition of resilience within an educational context; identify learning and teaching strategies which support development of student resilience; and explore resilience in the context of graduate work readiness.