Search Results

We study the long-term effects of a psychological intervention on longitudinal academic outcomes and degree completion of college students. All freshmen at a large public university were randomized to an online growth mindset, belonging, or control group. We tracked students’ academic outcomes including GPA, number of credits attempted and earned, major choices, and degree completion. We found no evidence of longitudinal academic treatment effects in the full sample. However, the mindset treatment improved term GPAs for Latinx students and the probability for Pell-eligible and Latinx students to major in selective majors. We also found no evidence of increased rates of on-time graduation, however, the treatment raised the probability to graduate with selective majors in four years, especially for Latinx students.

This research snapshot summarizes a project led by Soobin Kim as part of the National Study of Learning Mindsets Early Career Fellowship. The study evaluated casual effects of the growth mindset program used in the National Study of Learning Mindsets, and how those effects differed based on students' incoming mathematics GPA, mathematics course placement, and the fraction of control group students in their school who did not participate in the growth mindset program but nevertheless experienced an increase in self-reported growth mindset.