Women and Resilience

Women have historically and globally been in a position of reduced social position, equity, and inclusion. Over time and throughout history, overcoming this precarious positioning may have contributed to the cultivation of strength, perseverance, and resilience.

The scientific literature suggests that women have a great capacity to cope with adversity and respond with resilience, perhaps even more so than other people groups. Variables that may contribute to this resilience include the inclination women have to function within an emotionally intimate, confluence of community and supporters. The data is clear that living in isolation reduces our well-being while having meaningful connections among even a small circle of authentic kinships improves coping, well-being, and quality of life. Another contributing factor may be the ability to become aware of and communicate feelings and emotions—behaviors commonly attributed to women. Self-knowledge and self-care are buoyed by the quest to acknowledge, accept, and understand one’s feelings, all of which contribute to perseverance and self-preservation.

A crisis such as the coronavirus can test our levels of resilience. A study investigated aspects of resilience and coping among men and women during COVID looking at the incidence of substance use disorders, mental health and social issues, and serious psychological distress. The researchers found that, compared to any other people group, there was a collective protection from serious psychological disorders in black women with higher levels of education and religiosity, while the most serious psychological distress came from people who had substance use disorders.

Another research study among healthcare providers found that women reported more stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 epidemic than men in their healthcare environments; however, the data showed that after taking into consideration preexisting and concurrent stressors there was no measurable difference. These preexisting and concurrent stressors included a disproportionate responsibility that women bore for the caretaking of loved ones while also experiencing inequalities in social position. 

Powerful data was drawn from research on resilience involving 3000 women from 10 different countries asking women for the characteristics that describe themselves and their ability to be resilient.  The data on the top six resilience-related attributes included the following: 1) They act according to their values and beliefs 2) They are confident in who they are 3) They are able to have positive energy 4) They are able to deal with both the ups and downs of life 5) They are constantly growing and evolving as a person 6) They are able to face challenges no matter how difficult they may be.

When looking at the term resilience through the lens of material science, resilience suggests a material that can be stretched, bent, or pressed but is capable of returning to its original shape or form. In the world of people—women in particular—does this bending and pressing weaken the essence of the material or simply result in more resilience over experience/time elevating and transcribing this resilience one generation to the next—perhaps the latter!