DOES YOUR STUDENT HAVE A
GROWTH MINDSET? By Amy Baldwin, Ed.D.
Periods of transition — like starting college or coming home for winter break after first term — are a perfect time for cleaning out closets and throwing out items that no longer serve us. These are also good opportunities to check in about attitudes that no longer serve our students. One of the areas for college students that often needs reappraisal is what researchers call “mindset,” or the way someone views learning and the struggles that can accompany studying something difficult. Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford who has spent decades studying what makes some people more successful than others, calls the belief that everyone can improve a skill with hard work and focus “growth mindset.” You may be familiar with growth mindset and its counterpart 20
“fixed mindset,” which is the belief that talent or intelligence is inborn and there’s nothing one can do to improve it. As a college professor and parent, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t hear a student (or my own kid!) express concern about the challenges they face. It’s their response to the challenges, or their mindset, that can help them overcome and learn from the challenges they will face throughout life. Some students may need a little help clearing out the cobwebs of doubt about their abilities.
