A Growth Mindset Promotes Persistence in STEM
Achievement is one thing, but persistence is another. As we've seen, girls and women are achieving at the same levels as boys and men in math and science by many measures, yet women are not persisting to the same degree in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Ongoing research by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck and her colleagues has shown that a growth mindset promotes not only higher achievement but increased persistence in STEM fields as well.
In one study, Dweck and her colleagues followed several hundred women at an elite university through a semester of a calculus class. Women who reported that their classrooms communicated a fixed mindset where negative stereotypes were widespread showed an eroding sense that they belonged in math during the semester, and they were less likely to express a desire to take math in the future. Women who said that their classrooms promoted a growth mindset were less susceptible to the negative effects of stereotypes, and they were more likely to intend to continue to take math in the future. At the beginning of the semester, no difference was seen in interest, excitement, sense of belonging, or intention to continue in math, but by the end of the study, girls who were continually exposed to the fixed-mindset message along with the stereotype that girls don't do well in math lost interest. A growth-mindset environment can help cultivate and maintain girls' interest in STEM fields.
Now, you may be thinking, "How much difference can a growth mindset make? Aren't some people just born with more ability than others?" While Dweck does not deny that there can be "talent differences" among students, she reminds us of the difficulty of measuring individual potential. "I don't know how much of talent - even among prodigies - comes from the fact that a person is born with an ability versus the fact that he or she is fascinated with something and passionate about it and does it all the time. I'm not saying anyone can do anything, but I am saying that we don't know where talent comes from, and we don't know who's capable of what."
Quite an empowering message.
Hi Laura,
I agree with you. A person has to believe they can do something in order to cultivate any intrinsic interest they may have in it. That's why it is so important for adults like your algebra teacher to do just what he did. It's great that you remember what he did so many years later - it clearly had a big effect.
Hi Christi,
I tend to think that attracting a woman to science takes a subject that is of consuming interest, but I recall when I discovered algebra in 7th grade, that Mr. Spawn, my math teacher, encouraged me and gave me extra word problems to "play with." I'm sure if he had told me, "Girls can't do math," instead, I might have taken another path altogether. So, first it's the welcome mat, the "you can do this" message that matters. Then, the intrinsic interest of the subject has a chance to come through.
cheers,
Laura
