Resilience and well-being: a multi-country exploration of construction management students

Abstract

Development of resilience at university prepares construction management students for career success. This is especially important as construction is known as a demanding industry in which its workers experience high levels of stress and poor well-being. The resilience and well-being of construction management students in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States were explored. Three hundred and sixty-six undergraduates completed a survey. Resilience and well-being were measured using the Resilience at University scale, Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and the emotional exhaustion component of the Maslach Burnout Inventory Scale – Student Survey. Students from the United States had the highest level of resilience followed by Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. Of the four countries, students from Hong Kong had the lowest level of well-being. Findings identified that resilience is a predictor of student well-being, highlighting the importance of building students’ resilience through the construction management curricula. The results suggest that the development and nurturing of resilience at university should be considered in the context of country. As resilience is a transferable skill, efforts to facilitate resilience development will support students to transition, adapt and thrive in the demanding construction industry.