STUDENT RESILIENCE – PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCE FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE

Abstract

This article examines student resilience as a psychological resource for leadership development in contemporary higher education. The significance of the research is to accentuate that students should be developed not only professionally but also be resilient, independent, responsible, flexible, and adaptive to take part in the university’s academic and social activities. In this case, resilience is considered not only the ability to cope with stress but also an internal resource allowing students to solve problems, work with uncertain things, and turn negative experiences into positive ones. The aim of the paper is the theoretical justification of the significance of students’ resilience for being a leader based on a literature review. The study is performed as an analytical review. Theoretical analysis, comparative analysis, systematization and scientific generalization are used in the article. The literature review embraces three main areas: approaches to the concept of students’ resilience; studies related to the students’ leadership development and potential; intersections in semantics of resilience and leadership development. The results of the review show that student resilience not only adaptive but also developmental value. It is connected with self-efficacy, self-regulation, communicative flexibility, emotional stability, decision-making, and responsibility in complicated situations. All these characteristics are necessary for leadership development as well. It means that the issue of leadership development of students should be considered not independently from the issue of their psychological resilience, as leadership presupposes responsibility, proactivity, the ability to overcome difficulties, and constructive communication with other people. In summary, the concept of resilience is an important psychological resource for the students’ leadership development. Directions for further research can include empirical studying of the relationship between students’ resilience and their potential and creation of psychological and pedagogical conditions for the development of students’ resilience in universities.