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In the present study, the issues of teacher resilience and the persistent gender stereotypes in the field are discussed. The main objective of the conducted research study was to examine the presence of gender-stereotype-confirming behavior in coping with adversity in vocational school teachers. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale CDRISC-25SLOVAKwas selected as the most suitable research instrument, by means of which gender differences in the participants’ (N=474) responses in its subscales were studied. The results obtained confirmed the hypothesis presuming the existence of gender differences in the achieved scores in five of the seven dimensions of the scale, and also stereotype-confirming behaviors—according to which men are rational problem solvers while women tend to apply emotion-focused coping strategies—were reported. This knowledge can be the first step towards introducing measures with the aim to provide individuals of all genders with opportunities to broaden their scale of coping strategies and promote resilience in them. Since vocational school teachers are on the periphery of researchers’ interest and no available extensive study has been focused on gender differences in teacher resilience, the research findings aim to fill the gap in the existing knowledge, provide unique data for policymakers, and create a basis for further resilience research. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2024-SIED1-011 Full Text: PDF

The aim of the proposed study is to present the partial results of research activities focused on vocational school teachers’ resilience realized within the grant project IGA003DTI/2022. The present study aims to examine the existence of associations between teacher resilience and years of teaching experience. The research sample consisted of 474 vocational school teachers in Slovakia. The level of their teacher resilience was measured by The Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale CD-RISC-25SLOVAK. The scale measures seven dimensions—Hardiness, Coping, Adaptability/Flexibility, Meaningfulness/Purpose, Optimism, Regulation of emotion and cognition, and Self-Efficacy. The findings confirmed the existence of associations between teacher resilience and years of teaching experience as novice teachers and teachers with ten or fewer years of teaching experience achieved lower scores in the scale than their more experienced colleagues. Although we are aware of the limits of the research study given the size and composition of the sample, the findings suggest that years of teaching experience can be considered an important variable from the aspect of teacher resilience and it is important to pay increased attention especially to novice teachers’ well-being and building their resilience, e.g., by providing guidance through developing effective coping strategies. As there are a lack of available data on vocational school teachers’ resilience, the present findings have the potential to broaden the existing knowledge and have implications for further research.