Presentation Schedule
Building Resilience for the Real World: Lessons from Hospitality Internships (103169)
Session Chair: Emily Yee Fun Woo
Sunday, 8 February 2026 16:20
Session: Session 3
Room: Opal 105 (Level 1)
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Resilience is the psychological capability to adapt and thrive in adversity. It is an essential competency that can help young people maintain mental well-being and bounce back from the stressors in life. Past research has indicated that this quality of grit is influenced by three inter-related factors, namely, outlook on work, self-efficacy and coping strategies. In recent years, resilience has gained prominence in Singapore’s educational scene. The Ministry of Education has highlighted resilience as one of the core values in its framework for 21st century competencies and student outcomes. Alongside the growing emphasis on resilience, a local university in Singapore has included it as an internship assessment component, from 2023 onwards. For this project, a content analysis of workplace supervisors’ assessments of students’ resilience was performed. The results from 290 hospitality students in 2023 and 2024 indicated a mean of 4.5 (out of a maximum of 5). The score implied that students’ resilience was evaluated to be good, bordering on even excellent. The analysis of workplace supervisors’ qualitative comments also showed mostly commendations on students’ perseverance when faced with setbacks. However, a review of incidents and complaints during the same period suggested that students’ resilience could have made a difference in how they might have managed towards a more fruitful and happier internship. While previous studies have revealed that resilience-related interventions (e.g., coaching, skills-based training) yield non-consistent effects, this study underscores the need to support students in developing their coping mechanisms and emotional regulations for more success in professional settings.
Authors:
Lee-Keng Ng, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore
Emily Yee-Fun Woo, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Lee Keng Ng is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Singapore Institute of Technology in Singapore
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