Grit as a Predictor of Academic Success in College Students

Introduction

College can be a trying time for students due to the weight of new responsibilities and the increase in personal accountability. There are no parents watching over one's shoulder, the subjects and classes are more difficult and require more study, and the pressures can build. One quality of successful students that has been identified by researchers is grit—a toughness of character that helps a person be resilient when facing obstacles so as to overcome them (Crede, 2018). This paper conducts a literature review of material related to grit as a positive predictor of academic success among the college student population, examining both qualitative and quantitative findings. It also identifies a need for intervention at the macro level and explains why this population requires a targeted intervention based on the literature reviewed. Finally, it offers a recommendation for a specific intervention related to the concept of grit and describes how this intervention could be carried out and evaluated.

Literature Review

Crede (2018) argues that the evidence is lacking to support grit as an effective predictor of academic success or as an indicator that long-term goals will be reached. This argument is based on Crede's (2018) evaluation of the definition of grit as perseverance plus passion. Because grit is a construct, however, its definition will vary from one study to another. Crede (2018) states that the evidence does not support the view that grit is necessary for success, and part of his concern lies with the construct itself. Grit is defined by Crede (2018) through two other constructs—passion and perseverance—which makes it difficult to understand at a scientific level. With that said, Crede's qualitative assessment of the evidence ignores the quantitative findings of other researchers and tends to present grit in a negative light when it comes to predicting academic success. One noteworthy finding from Crede's (2018) assessment, however, is that interventions aimed at developing perseverance in students must be long-term to be successful. In other words, a brief intervention cannot be expected to address a problem that affects students at the college level effectively. Grit is something that has to be developed at a younger age and refined as the student grows older. Attempting to instill the values that constitute grit in a person's character at age 18 is too late; character has already largely been formed. For an intervention to last and be effective, it must be implemented much earlier—well before students reach college.

The quantitative data supports the notion that grit can predict academic success. Unlike Crede (2018), Boerma and Neill (2020) define grit as a "facet" of perseverance—a quality of that virtue akin to tenaciousness (p. 442). They found that university students who possessed that facet of perseverance tended to earn higher GPAs, indicating that grit is a good predictor of academic success.

The study by Boerma and Neill (2020) is not alone in this conclusion. Hodge, Wright, and Bennett (2018) also found that the grit factor made a meaningful difference in the academic performance of the 395 university students in their sample. The researchers identified a "positive relationship between grit, engagement and academic productivity" (p. 448). Wolters and Hussain (2015) similarly found that grit was a good predictor of university students' ability to engage in self-regulated learning. The same conclusion was reached by Fong and Kim (2019), who showed that grit is a positive predictor of university students' GPA. Their study is supported by Vela, Lu, Lenz, and Hinojosa (2015), who noted that familial support systems also serve as a strong predictor of success. Additionally, Strayhorn (2014) demonstrated that grit is a determining predictor for African American university students as well. In the context of online education, self-regulation is essential to student engagement, and grit factors into performance there too, according to the quantitative study by Buzzetto-Hollywood, Quinn, Wang, and Hill (2019). Taken together, these quantitative studies consistently show that grit is a good predictor of academic performance, and the qualitative concerns raised by Crede (2018) are insufficient to override the weight of this converging evidence.

Nevertheless, Crede (2018) makes a valid point about the need for a long-term intervention to develop grit. The quantitative studies reviewed focus on the predictive power of grit but do not address how grit can be developed. In his qualitative analysis, Crede (2018) argues that grit cannot be cultivated through a short-term intervention once a student has reached college age. It must instead be developed earlier in life so that it becomes a lasting habit—the virtue of perseverance. That insight is valuable when designing an intervention. Because the quantitative data demonstrates how important grit is to the academic success of college students, it is clear that any intervention targeting a lack of collegiate success should focus on grit. The study by Vela et al. (2015) also highlighted the role that family support plays, making it another factor to consider in intervention design. As Crede (2018) points out, however, the intervention must begin earlier—ideally during primary school—so that a solid foundation for grit can be established before students ever reach college.

Proposed Intervention

College students should have an adequate level of grit by the time they reach that stage of academics, given the nature of the work they will face. Secondary education is challenging, but students in that phase typically benefit from the full support of teachers and family, as well as access to tutoring services. In college, students are generally more independent and must rely on themselves to succeed. If they lack the ability to persevere—if they have not developed sufficient grit—the research shows their grades will suffer and their GPA will fall below that of students who have cultivated grit. When grades decline, students can become discouraged, which may contribute to higher dropout rates. At the macro level, there is therefore a clear need to instill grit in students. As Crede (2018) explains, an intervention of this nature must be long-term. Even if initiated for first-year university students, such an intervention would likely need to last throughout the undergraduate experience.

The college student population is vulnerable to a range of pressures and obstacles. Students typically take on expensive loans to pay for classes, and when results—good grades—are not forthcoming, they can lose heart. The research confirms that grit is vital to success (Boerma & Neill, 2020). Two options exist for helping this population. The first is to initiate an intervention that builds grit at a younger age, starting in primary school and continuing through secondary school so that students arrive at college already equipped to face challenges independently. The second is to provide an intervention that spans the duration of the college experience, assisting students in developing grit throughout their studies. This second option might resemble a campus-based family support system that focuses students on positive thinking and encourages perseverance in the face of obstacles, consistent with the findings of Vela et al. (2015).

Conclusion

Grit is a determining factor in predicting academic success. The research is clear on that point. Students at the college level need grit to succeed because they are now largely independent and cannot rely on the same level of external support they had in secondary school. Unless they are capable of self-regulating, persevering, and committing seriously to their studies, they will not succeed. Building grit takes time, which is why the intervention proposed here spans the entire educational journey from elementary school through college. Beginning in elementary school makes sense because that is when character is most actively being formed in the learner. For students already enrolled in college, the Grit and Determination Office on campus would serve as a critical resource, providing access to trainers who can foster positive thinking and help keep students focused and resilient throughout their studies.

References

Boerma, M., & Neill, J. (2020). The role of grit and self-control in university student academic achievement and satisfaction. College Student Journal, 54(4), 431–442.

Buzzetto-Hollywood, N., Quinn, K., Wang, W., & Hill, A. (2019). Grit in online education. Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science, 1–11.

Crede, M. (2018). What shall we do about grit? A critical review of what we know and what we don't know. Educational Researcher, 47(9), 606–611.

Fong, C. J., & Kim, Y. W. (2019). A clash of constructs? Re-examining grit in light of academic buoyancy and future time perspective. Current Psychology, 1–14.

Hodge, B., Wright, B., & Bennett, P. (2018). The role of grit in determining engagement and academic outcomes for university students. Research in Higher Education, 59(4), 448–460.

Strayhorn, T. L. (2014). What role does grit play in the academic success of black male collegians at predominantly white institutions? Journal of African American Studies, 18(1), 1–10.

Vela, J. C., Lu, M. T. P., Lenz, A. S., & Hinojosa, K. (2015). Positive psychology and familial factors as predictors of Latina/o students' psychological grit. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 37(3), 287–303.

Wolters, C. A., & Hussain, M. (2015). Investigating grit and its relations with college students' self-regulated learning and academic achievement. Metacognition and Learning, 10(3), 293–311.