Who Gives A Grit?Why We Should Retire Grit Before It Gains TractionAmelia Marcetti Topper Arizona State University Saturday Scholars Event April 2015

= perseverance + passion for long-term goals(Duckworth et al., 2007, p. 1087)

1= not gritty 5=very gritty

Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth & Quinn, 2009; Locke & Latham, 2013; Robertson-Kraft & Duckworth, 2014; Vallerand, Houlfort, & Forest, 2014

• higher levels of education• goal attainment in the face of

adversity• fewer career changes• overall success in chosen

activity

Grit Research

• Duckworth et al. (2007): “grittier” high-achieving undergraduate students at UPenn had higher GPAs and lower SAT scores

• Strayhorn (2014): “grittier” Black, male students enrolled full-time at a predominately White southeastern research institution had higher GPAs and, when combined with background traits and other academic factors, explained 24% in college grade variance

Grit Research & Higher Education

• Large-scale student survey• 40 community college students; 11 faculty/administrators• 1 community college in the American southwest• Semi-structured interviews, visual exercises, participatory ranking exercise

Esperanza Community College (pseudonym)

Artwork by Jorge Cristopulos

Lydia (pseudonym)

- White- Early 30s- Married- 3 children

Lydia (pseudonym)

- Felon

Lydia (pseudonym)

- White- Early 30s- Married- 3 children

“I lived a very colorful life as a young person, so school was definitely on the back burner.”

Lydia (pseudonym)

“I lived a very colorful life as a young person, so school was definitely on the back burner.”

“It was just my own personal decision in going for family life education, dealing with adolescents…I think partially because I have a teenager and because I was a troubled teen, it just felt like it was fitting.”

Lydia (pseudonym)

Lydia (pseudonym)“I think I always feel that way, whether it’s school or work or everyday life. It’s just something you just kind of, you feel like it’s that gray cloud that hangs over your head and keeps you from the things that everybody else can do…”

“I think I always feel that way, whether it’s school or work or everyday life. It’s just something you just kind of, you feel like it’s that gray cloud that hangs over your head and keeps you from the things that everybody else can do…”

“Everybody’s extremely supportive. I get emotional just saying that. It’s been a very hard path to get me to this point.”

Lydia (pseudonym)

Lydia (pseudonym)

“I just didn’t ever really think that I could get back into working and all those things because I thought that the doors would just be closed...”

“I’ve talked to a couple of the counselors and because my study of choice is adolescents, I have a million hoops I have to jump through in order to recertify and go into my career choice…I felt like maybe I was doing the wrong thing. And the counselor said don’t stop, it’s worth it, this is what you want to do.”

“I just didn’t ever really think that I could get back into working and all those things because I thought that the doors would just be closed...”

Lydia (pseudonym)

“Going to school has really, really changed that because now I realize that I don’t have those [gray cloud] moments; it’s not this little tiny box anymore. I have this whole huge world that I can participate in. I think that if I didn’t go to school I would still feel the same way…

Lydia (pseudonym)

“Going to school has really, really changed that because now I realize that I don’t have those [gray cloud] moments; it’s not this little tiny box anymore. I have this whole huge world that I can participate in. I think that if I didn’t go to school I would still feel the same way…

…I kind of feel like my life was a blank coloring page before I started going to school and now it’s kind of half colored, I don’t think it’s finished.”

Lydia (pseudonym)

Artwork by Ben Grosso

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