Resilience Project

From 2018-2019, the Division of Student Life has been reviewing literature concerning resilience in students to inform the creation of material to foster resilience in students and to improve program design. In conjunction with this ongoing work, the Innovation Hub undertook a design thinking project utilizing long-form empathy interviews with students on the topic of resilience. We wanted to better understand what resilience looks like at the University of Toronto and what is being done to support it. We found that resilience appears as self-management skills and critical self-reflection, both of which can be honed through participation in much of the extra-curricular programming available on campus. 

OUR FINDINGS

Speaking with students from a variety of backgrounds, our team determined that resilience appears as self-management skills and critical self-reflection, both of which can be honed through participation in much of the extra-curricular programming available on campus. Themes to support this finding were:  

  • Managing the Self
  • Self-Advocacy
  • Involvement as Resiliency 

These themes and insights are supported through additional quotes from students, personas, and next steps to consider as we foster resilience at UofT. Learn more by accessing the report below.

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Read more about the project: