The resilience of students with an immigrant background

This chapter introduces the concept of resilience as it applies to students with an immigrant background. Resilience is the ability to overcome adversity and adjust positively to a new life. It defines the terms “adversity”, “adjustment” and “vulnerability”, as used in the report, and identifies several of the risk and protective factors that are related to how well – or poorly – students with an immigrant background integrate into their host communities. The chapter concludes with a brief look at the two main sources of data for the report: the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the European Social Survey (ESS).