Academic Resilience and How it Distinguishes High-and Low-Achieving Students

Abstract

This study examined how academic resilience relates to academic performance in 345 first-year college students at Cotabato Foundation College of Science and Technology (CFCST) for the 2024–2025 school year. It also assessed if there was a significant difference in level of resilience between high-performing students and low-performing students. Academic performance was defined as each student’s general point average (GPA) during their senior high school experience. Academic Resilience was defined as an aggregate measure of Perseverance, Reflective and Adaptive Help-seeking, and Positive Affective and Emotional Responses to challenges. Results from the Kruskal-Wallis H Test found that there were statistically significant difference in the levels of academic resilience for students who achieved different GPA (H = 6.18, p = .045). Post-hoc analysis identified that outstanding students reported statistically greater levels of academic resilience compared to students with satisfactory grades. Also, the Spearman’s Rho Correlation Coefficient found that, although both Perseverance (rho = 0.129, p < 0.05), and Reflecting and Adaptive Help-seeking (rho = 0.129, p < 0.05), were positively related to GPA, Positive Affective and Emotional Response (rho = 0.087, p = 0.105), was not. Therefore, the results indicate that the strategic and behavioral aspects of academic resilience are an important distinction for successful students. The findings provide evidence for the need to develop student interventions focused on developing strategic effort and help-seeking skills.