The Resilient Graduate

This chapter explores the concept of resilience as a graduate attribute, structured under the four strands of resilience in the Robertson Cooper model: confidence, adaptability, purposefulness and social support. It considers how staff members in different disciplines foster resilience among their students. The chapter discusses how students can be empowered to understand and develop their own resilience to enable them to react appropriately to change and uncertainty. Robertson and Cooper talk about the importance of building good relationships to enhance resilience. This includes both relationships within the university with staff and other students, and personal relationships with friends and family. Resilience should be part of the formal curriculum and that the aims, learning experiences and assessment should be aligned to develop resilient practices. The Resilience Audit has been used with several groups of student who found it useful and empowering, leading to practical action plans