Got Grit? Insights from the Social Sciences for Advisors Kathy Johnson Department of Psychology and University College at IUPUI Becky Torstrick Department of Anthropology at IU South Bend, and Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Objectives for This Afternoon… Whirlwind tour of theories and constructs that we think have implications for supporting student success Perspectives from Anthropology – Culture, Habitus, Cultural Capital – Addressing cultural misalignment Perspectives from Psychology – What fuels success and motivates students to learn, and how can advisors take advantage of this research in everyday practice? Lots of good discussion

Perspectives from Anthropology Thinking like an anthropologist—it’s all about culture. What is habitus and why should I care about it? Social and cultural capital Culture Shock/Cultural Mismatch Getting Good at Code Shifting/Dual Vision

Culture

Habitus “the deeply engrained habits, skills, and dispositions that we possess due to our life experiences, the parts of our lives that ‘go without saying’.“ Habitus helps us successfully navigate our social worlds.

The Habitus of the University What are the deeply embedded habits, skills and dispositions valued and needed to succeed in the university?

Social and Cultural Capital “The collection of symbolic elements such as skills, tastes, posture, clothing, mannerisms, material belongings, credentials, acquired through one’s position in a particular social class.” [Habitus, Social Theory Rewired]

Parenting Styles Middle class: Concerted Cultivation Working class: Natural Growth She found that schools assume parents raise children one of these two ways and only one. Which way do you think is the norm? What does this mean for the children raised the other way?

Working Class versus Middle Class BELONGING BECOMING RESTRICTED CODES ELABORATED CODES SURVIVING BLOOMING BONDING BRIDGING INTERDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE

So Advisors could…… Learn to And see with DOUBLED VISION

Let’s Begin with What do we want a student to get out of advising?

Perspectives from Psychology Traditional Views of Student Success vs. Newer Influences of Psychological Research on Student Performance: – Hard work (Grit) – Strategies matter – Mindset – Self-transcendent purpose for learning

Traditional Views of Student Success – Academic integration – Social integration  Sense of Institutional Commitment

The Next Generation….. Application of Social, Personality, and Cognitive Psychology to Higher Education Contexts Carol Dweck Angela Duckworth David Yaeger Diane Halpern

Success Depends on Hard Work

Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.

The 10-Year Rule: K. Anders Ericsson (1996) The Road to Excellence: The Acquisition of Expert Performance in the Arts and Sciences, Sports and Games (p. 11)

Measuring Grit….. Dr. Angela Duckworth Univ. of Pennsylvania

An Important Caveat…. Yaeger, Walton, & Cohen (2013) SUCCESS = Effort + Strategies + Help from Others Implications for Advising?

Implications for Practice Correlation with ‘Big 5’ trait of Conscientiousness….but with a long-term focus Can you cultivate it in students? (very active area of research)

About those strategies….. Great Read (still): Halpern & Hakel, 2003: Applying the Science of Learning to the University and Beyond: Teaching for Long-Term Retention and Transfer, Change: How can advisors help break students’ convictions regarding: Multitasking (attentional limits) The power (NOT) of flashcards What ‘reviewing for an examination’ should look like? The importance of sleep, diet, and exercise for healthy brain function?

Grit May be Driven by Mindset Dr. Carol Dweck, Stanford University

Mindset Can Be a CHOICE……and it can be influenced through subtle (often implicit) messages that advisors convey

Online (free) assessment useful in FY seminars:

Emerging Work….. Self-Transcendent Purpose for Learning (Yaeger, et al., in press, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology) Assessed students’ self-transcendent motives for going to college (a purpose for learning), operationalized as a personally-relevant desire to learn in order to make a contribution to the world beyond the self: – I want to learn things that will help me make a positive impact on the world – I want to gain skills that I can use in a job that help others – I want to become an educated citizen that can contribute to society Learners persisted on tasks after they reflected on how their future role in society might contribute in some ways to the world beyond the self. These individuals were better able to maintain their level of persistence and overcome temptation even when engaged in a boring task. Dr. David Yaeger Univ. of Texis at Austin

“It's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role that you'll play in writing the next great chapter in the American story.” - President Barack Obama, Wesleyan University Commencement Speech, 2008

Implications for Advising? How to foster self-transcendent purpose for learning?

Questions?