Meet the project - 'Disadvantaged Students Who Beat the Odds Toward a New Generation of Research in Academic Resilience (#BeResilient project)'

How can we help all students reach their full potential—no matter their background? For Nani Teig, associate professor at the University of Oslo (UiO), the answer lies in understanding academic resilience: how some disadvantaged students succeed in school despite the odds stacked against them.

Teig will lead the Young CAS project Disadvantaged Students Who Beat the Odds: Toward a New Generation of Research in Academic Resilience over the next two years. Her research will explore how and why some students thrive academically in challenging circumstances—and what schools and policymakers can learn from their success.

“We know that inequality in education has increased rapidly, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Teig said. “Educational inequality is a global problem that affects many countries, from the poorest to the richest.”

Building a New Generation of Research on Resilience

Teig’s project will bring together a team of international scholars from education, psychology, sociology, and computer science. Together, they aim to identify academically resilient students, track how their numbers have changed over time, and uncover the factors that help them succeed. 

“Even though academic resilience plays a critical role in reducing the achievement gap in education, its research remains fragmented, especially in science education,” Teig explained. “Researchers have not yet conceptualized academic resilience in science adequately or addressed its dynamic and multilevel nature. The need for a valid and reliable measurement of academic resilience is crucial to identify resilient students across different contexts.”

The project will combine insights from several disciplines to develop new ways of measuring and understanding resilience. Using large-scale educational data, the team hopes to reveal how classroom environments, school cultures, and teacher practices influence students’ ability to overcome disadvantage.

Findings from this work could have direct implications for educational policy and practice. “I believe that, given the right support, any school can offer children a fair chance to succeed in life, regardless of their background,” Teig said. “Poverty does not need to be destiny.”
 

From Borneo to Oslo: A Lifelong Dedication to Education

Teig’s personal journey has been deeply intertwined with teaching and education.

“I come from the third largest island in the world, Borneo in Indonesia,” she said. “I have been working as a teacher since I was 15 years old, so I have quite a broad range of teaching experience—from working in kindergartens, schools, and universities, and from teaching science, mathematics, and statistics.”

Today, she works as an associate professor at UiO and as an associate professor II at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Her research focuses on how teachers and policymakers can use data analytics to enhance student learning outcomes.

That combination of personal experience, analytical expertise, and international perspective shapes her approach to studying resilience. “Children living in poverty often have just one chance in life to reach their full potential: through a good school that provides them with the opportunity to succeed,” she said.

Collaboration Across Disciplines and Borders

For Teig, being selected as a Young CAS PI is both a recognition of her work and an opportunity to expand it.

“The Young CAS Fellow programme focuses on building research networks and is targeted toward researchers in the early stages of their careers,” she said. “This programme will bring a valuable opportunity to develop my work as an early-career researcher, primarily through knowledge sharing and collaboration with scholars across different fields.”

Over the next two years, Teig and her team will meet three times—culminating in a two-month research stay at CAS in Oslo. These gatherings are designed to foster collaboration and spark new ideas.

“I am looking forward to developing my research ideas and meeting people in person,” Teig said. “It is an exciting opportunity to discuss the project with a team of scholars who have diverse and substantive methodological expertise.”
 

Toward a More Equitable Future

At its heart, Teig’s project is about more than test scores or academic metrics—it’s about hope. By identifying what enables disadvantaged students to succeed, she hopes to inspire changes that make education more equitable for all.

Closing achievement gaps between students from high- and low-income families, Teig emphasizes, benefits not just individuals but society as a whole. “Enhancing equity and quality in education advances sustainability and social justice in the larger society,” she said.

Through her Young CAS project, Teig aims to show that resilience is not a rare trait possessed by a few exceptional students—but a potential that can be nurtured in every classroom.
 

“These academically resilient students show what is possible,” she said. “They provide insight into how we can support all students in reaching their full potential.”

About the Young CAS Grant Programme:
The Young CAS Grant initiative supports early-career researchers who wish to establish interdisciplinary research networks and develop innovative project ideas. PIs receive funding for two years, including three gatherings and a research stay at the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) in Oslo.