Applying the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale for Use with Third-Year African American College Students

Resilience is a key component in the success equation for many students attending a historically Black college or university (HBCU). Although traditional indicators of prior academic achievement are often used to predict persistence to degree completion, there is growing support for including latent non-cognitive characteristics into this model. The current study surveyed third-year African American HBCU students using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale to gauge their existing resilience. Results indicated that the instrument was appropriate for use with this cohort, who displayed slightly higher than average resilience compared to the general population, which could have been due to the respondent’s already persisting to their junior year. More research is needed to address the relationship between resilience and other sociodemographic, environmental, and institutional factors that may impact HBCU students’ prior to, and across the entire range of their college career.