Exploring the Resilience of School Principals: Demographic Determinants and Institutional Influences in a Developing Region

Background: School principals are often challenged in exercising their authority, especially during educational policy adjustments. Resilience is one factor that can overcome these problems. However, the exploration of resilience, especially among school principals, is still limited, especially in terms of demographic factors such as age, work experience, and education level. Objective: The current study was conducted to obtain an overview of principals' resilience, determine the relationship between principals' demographics (age, work experience, and education level) and resilience levels, and compare principals' resilience in public and private schools. Methodology: The present study used a quantitative approach, with a cross-sectional design on 137 principals using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Questionnaire (CD-RISC). Pearson correlation analysis was used to test the relationship between demographic variables and resilience scores. In contrast, multiple regression analysis was used to see how social support and work experience simultaneously influence principals' resilience levels. Results: The exploratory results suggest that the demographic factors of age, work experience, and education level significantly correlate with principals' resilience scores. The average resilience score of public school principals (76.24) was slightly higher than that of private school principals (74.20). However, the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Unique Contribution: The study's results offer new insights into demographic factors that influence principals' resilience and provide empirical evidence, in agreement with previous research, that there are no differences between public and private school principals. Conclusion: Principals' resilience is influenced by age, work experience, and education level, but there is no significant difference between public and private principals. Developing resilience with training and psychological interventions can be one strategy for improving principals' performance. Key Recommendation: Resilience development programmes are needed for school principals, especially young or newly appointed principals, to strengthen their leadership qualities in the future.