Resilient coping mechanisms of industrial and organisational psychology coursework master’s students

University coursework master’s studies are an inherently stressful and demanding educational experience that potentially impacts students’ successful completion of the qualification. Accordingly, the ability of university students to self-regulate and manage academic strain, adversities and role demands remain a top concern for higher education institutions. This study sought to identify the core resilient coping mechanisms that distance learning industrial and organisational psychology first-year coursework master’s students employ to handle the adversities and strain of a demanding master’s coursework programme. We adopted a mixed-method research design with a survey questionnaire that captured participants’ ( N = 19) narrative responses on an open-ended question and their responses on 11 question items pertaining to key facets of their resilient coping resources. The qualitative findings added evidence of participants’ capacity for resilient coping through the employment of psychological adaptive mechanisms (support seeking, boundary management, academic resilience and grit, and holistic self-care). The quantitative descriptive statistics revealed an overall average coping profile that was mostly attributed to positive emotions and psychological wellbeing, grit and personal mastery and support seeking efforts. Participants’ noncoping was attributed to low levels of mental and emotional vitality while their resilient coping was attributed to study meaningfulness and engagement. The research enriched the graduate coping literature and reiterates the importance of integrating targeted academic support in the coursework curriculum to help students develop and reflect on the resilient coping mechanisms that advance their self-care and academic wellbeing and ensure their success as prospective professional industrial psychologists.