Grit, Growth Mindset, and Gender Differences in College Students

Abstract

Grit and growth mindset are increasingly being recognized as important non-cognitive traits essential to overcoming adversity. The current study examined gender differences grit and growth mindset across specific life domains (academics, athleticism, leadership, and socialization) among a sample of young adult college students. One hundred and sixty-three participants were recruited in an online study where a validated grit scale, a validated growth mindset scale, and a demographics measure, which were used to assess the amount of grit or growth mindset a participant had, relative to each domain. Among the current sample, women had significantly lower scores of growth mindset for socialization than men, that men had significantly higher scores of growth mindset for athletics than women, and that across all other domains, the overall men and women did not differ beyond what would be expected by chance. Implications and future directions are discussed