Improving STEM self-efficacy with a scalable classroom intervention targeting growth mindset and success attribution

Helping more university students, especially under-represented minorities, complete STEM degrees and enter the STEM workforce has proven to be difficult. Those most at risk benefit least from innovations addressing only pedagogy or curriculum. Research suggests that we must influence students' self-efficacy: their belief that they can overcome setbacks and ultimately succeed. We present the results of a four-year NSF-funded project to develop and test a brief, scalable classroom intervention for improving students' STEM self-efficacy by teaching growth mindset and success attribution. We developed and validated a questionnaire to measure STEM self-efficacy, growth mindset, and perceived academic control. Using a quasi-experimental design with a control treatment, at three universities with very different student demographics (total N = 853), HLM analysis shows that our intervention significantly increases students' growth mindset but not their self-efficacy or perceived academic control.