A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement

A global priority for the behavioural sciences is to develop cost-effective, scalable interventions that could improve the academic outcomes of adolescents at a population level, but no such interventions have so far been evaluated in a population-generalizable sample. Here we show that a short (less than one hour), online growth mindset intervention—which teaches that intellectual abilities can be developed—improved grades among lower-achieving students and increased overall enrolment to advanced mathematics courses in a nationally representative sample of students in secondary education in the United States. Notably, the study identified school contexts that sustained the effects of the growth mindset…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 1761179, HRD 1761179
• WT
  William T. Grant Foundation
• HE
  Houston Endowment
• SF
  Spencer Foundation
• UO
  University of Texas at Austin
• RF
  Raikes Foundation
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: R01HD084772
• CF
  Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
• NI
  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

  Awards: 10.13039/100000071, P2C-HD042849, R01HD084772, HD042849
• CF
  Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign