Learning Mindset and the Academic Achievement of Student Service Members/Veterans

More than one million current and former members of the United States military are enrolled in higher education in the United States. Prior research has demonstrated that demographic factors and campus engagement predict academic success for such Student Service Members/Veterans (SSM/V). In this study, we explored the extent to which a learning mindset—a student’s sense of belonging, confidence in their ability to be successful, perception that coursework is relevant to future success, and belief that the ability to learn can grow—might also predict such outcomes. Using 130,617 student responses from the 2018 Community College Survey of Student Engagement, the results showed that, relative to their civilian peers, SSM/V had a slightly less-positive learning mindset but slightly higher GPAs, even when controlling for a host of variables, including age, race, gender, and parental college attendance. A mediational analysis revealed that the statistical effect of SSM/V status on GPA was partially mediated by mindset, suggesting that SSM/V would have had even higher GPAs, on average, had their mindset been more positive. These findings suggest that mindset interventions for SSM/V have the potential to produce positive academic outcomes. At the same time, we caution against generalizing that SSM/V have broadly different learning mindset or academic achievement than civilian students because the differences between them, although statistically significant, are minor

Academic achievement · Coursework · Higher education · Mindset · Perception · Psychological intervention · Service-learning · Student engagement · Education and Military Integration · Education, Achievement, and Giftedness · Higher Education Research Studies

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