Academic resilience

Narratives of people from social housing neighbourhoods

Abstract

Poverty and the accumulation of risk factors associated with living in social housing neighbourhoods make them contexts that challenge development and psychological adjustment, particularly from an academic and professional point of view. In fact, failure and/or dropping out of school are fewer positive outcomes that often characterize the academic careers of children and young people from these social backgrounds. However, there is a small group of people who graduate from higher education courses. This study analyses seven narratives of people with this profile, using an ecological-developmental perspective and reflective thematic content analysis. It aimed to study the risk and protective mechanisms that contributed to their academic resilience. The results of the research suggest that successful experiences, positive interaction with other contexts, the presence of supportive figures, and the appreciation of teachers along the way were fundamental variables in buffering the effect of risk resulting from living in social housing neighbourhoods and, consequently, in the development of academic resilience. The study provides clues for intervention with vulnerable populations, particularly those living in social housing neighbourhoods, to increase trajectories that break the cycles of social reproduction of poverty.