Growth Mindset — Introduction
Growth mindset is a strategy (or way of looking at the world) that can help you succeed in college and other areas of life. It involves the way you think about your ability to continue growing and developing your skills, including your reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.
Growth Mindset — Origin & Definition
Carol Dweck, a psychologist and researcher, popularized the concepts of growth mindset and fixed mindset (the opposite of growth mindset) after studying the influence these mindsets can have on our success.
A growth mindset refers to the belief that we can learn and develop our skills through hard work and by trying different strategies.
A fixed mindset indicates the belief that skills and abilities stay the same throughout our lives (people are either naturally talented or not).
VIDEO INTRODUCTION
What is growth mindset?
Watch the following 2-minute video from the University of North Carolina Learning Center for a brief overview of growth mindset and how it can help you as a college student.
EXAMPLES
How do growth & fixed mindsets work?
Let’s look at some examples. A person with a growth mindset about math would believe that they can get better at math through practice. People with this mindset are more likely to be successful at math because they view errors as part of the learning process, a necessary part of developing their skills. Indeed, Dweck and other researchers have found that people with growth mindsets actually enjoy the kinds of challenging tasks that can cause them to make mistakes.
On the other hand, someone with a fixed mindset believes that their math abilities won’t get any better through practice. This person might think, I’m just not a math person. Perhaps they believe that their brain just isn’t made for numbers. A fixed mindset doesn’t have to be a belief that someone is permanently bad at something, though. Someone who believes they are naturally wonderful at math also has a fixed mindset. Whether a person thinks their math ability is permanently amazing, average, or atrocious, a fixed mindset discourages them from hard work. What’s the point of working hard if it won’t make a difference? And, since they don’t work hard, they don’t get better and they give up when they fail.
“Every successful person you know has failed at what they love to do before.”
– John Legend
Testimonial
How does a growth mindset lead to success?
Watch the following 2-minute video from the Khan Academy to hear how a growth mindset helped singer John Legend persist through failures and keep growing even after achieving success.
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