Reducing Inequality in Academic Success for Incoming College Students: A Randomized Trial of Growth Mindset and Belonging Interventions

Light-touch social psychological interventions have gained considerable attention for their potential to improve academic outcomes for underrepresented and/or disadvantaged students in postsecondary education. While findings from previous interventions have demonstrated positive effects for racial a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of research on educational effectiveness 2018-01, Vol.11 (3), p.317-338
Main Authors: Broda, Michael, Yun, John, Schneider, Barbara, Yeager, David S., Walton, Gregory M., Diemer, Matthew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
African American Students
College Credits
College Freshmen
College Students
Disproportionate Representation
Educational Change
Grade Point Average
growth mindset
Hispanic American Students
Intervention
light-touch intervention
Online Surveys
postsecondary education
Program Effectiveness
social belonging
Social Psychology
State Universities
Student Attitudes
Student School Relationship
Students
White Students
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Summary:Light-touch social psychological interventions have gained considerable attention for their potential to improve academic outcomes for underrepresented and/or disadvantaged students in postsecondary education. While findings from previous interventions have demonstrated positive effects for racial and ethnic minority and first-generation students in small samples, few interventions have been implemented at a larger scale with more heterogeneous student populations. To address this research gap, 7,686 students, representing more than 90% of incoming first-year students at a large Midwestern public university, were randomly assigned to an online growth mindset intervention, social belonging intervention, or a comparison group. Results suggest that after the fall semester, the growth mindset intervention significantly improved grade point averages for Latino/a students by about .40 points. This represents a 72% reduction in the GPA gap between White and Latino/a students. Further, this effect was replicated for both spring semester GPA and cumulative GPA. These findings indicate that light-touch interventions may be a minimally invasive approach to improving academic outcomes for underrepresented students. Our findings also highlight the complexity of implementing customized belonging interventions in heterogeneous contexts.
ISSN:1934-5747
1934-5739
DOI:10.1080/19345747.2018.1429037