This professional development workshop takes 3 research studies (grit, growth vs fixed mindset, and the marshmallow test) and translates them into practical suggestions for students. This workshop was presented to incoming business school students at UC Davis' Graduate School of Management on Aug 29, 2014.

1. Research on Success:
Grit, the Growth Mindset, and
the Marshmallow Test
Steve Lee, PhD
Graduate Diversity Officer
for the STEM Disciplines
UC Davis Graduate School
of Management
Orientation
August 29, 2014

2. Discuss within groups:
Discuss a recent situation where you (or
a friend) overcame a difficult challenge.
What internal characteristics helped you
to overcome the obstacle?
Compare this to similar situations when
you failed to overcome the challenge.
What internal characteristics hindered
your success?
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3. Angela Lee Duckworth talks about grit
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What did you think of her TED talk?

4. How do you respond to failure?
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Carol Dweck proposes 2 different responses:
I’d look at what was
wrong and resolve to do
better.
I’d start thinking about
working in a different
way.
stay in bed
get drunk
I’m a total failure
I wouldn’t bother trying
hard next time
Fixed mindset Grow h mindset

5. Summary of Dweck’s Mindset
Fixed vs Grow h
ability is static
avoids challenges
gives up easily
sees effort as fruitless
ignores useful criticism
threatened by others
ability is developed
embraces challenges
persists in obstacles
sees effort as necessary
learns from criticism
inspired by others’ success
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6. Examples of Different Mindsets
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Losing equals death You get better when
you lose

7. Dweck reveals a false dichotomy
you have ability or you expend effort
effort is for those without ability
Fixed
mindset:
Grow h
mindset:
we all need to expend effort to improve
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8. What are the consequences of
the different mindsets?
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9. What are the consequences of
the different mindsets?
Those who were
praised for their:
intelligence
effort
to reinforce a:
fixed mindset
growth mindset
chose to work on:
easier problems
more challenging
problems
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10. What are the benefits of
a grow h mindset?
Those with a growth mindset:
achieved higher grades in a General
Chemistry course
had a more accurate sense of their
strengths and weaknesses
had lower levels of depression
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11. The Marshmallow Test
Walter Mischel (Stanford psychology faculty)
children were offered a marshmallow, but if they
waited (~15 min), they were given 2 treats
children who waited longer for greater rewards
tended to have better life outcomes
– SAT scores
– educational attainment
– body mass index
similar to grit(!)
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12. Summary: Success correlates with:
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grit
growth mindset (vs fixed mindset)
patience (delayed gratification)
Question: How do I apply these?
Do I have these attributes?
Do I assess myself accurately?
Do I have good metacognitive skills?

13. Why is self-assessment so important?
Don’t I know myself?
employers
alumni
faculty
students
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In a national study, people rated student’s
preparedness in professional skills from 1 to 7.
4.27
4.73
5.16
4.41
Because we often don’t assess ourselves accurately.

14. Marshall Goldsmith points out …
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How will you grow
to get from here
to there?

15. Practical Suggestions
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Assess:
Apply:
Are you responding to challenges
with a fixed or growth mindset?
How is this context different than
past situations?
Apply your assessment to new
contexts, using a growth mindset
Try new approaches when faced
with challenges

16. Try these practical exercises:
Journal about past challenges: do you think
you responded with grit, a fixed or growth
mindset, and patience?
Ask close friends mentors for honest
feedback if you have these attributes.
Learn how this program context is
different from your past experiences.
Try new approaches using the growth
mindset when you encounter challenges.
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17. If you wish to read further:
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to understand mindsets to learn how to change

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Take-Home Message
Assess:
Apply:
Are you responding to
challenges with a fixed or
grow h mindset?
Apply your assessment
to new contexts, using a
grow h mindset

19. Thanks for your participation!
Any questions?
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?
?
?
Survey and slides/handout at: goo.gl/J9u7Bh

20. Research on Success
Grit, the Growth Mindset, and the Marshmallow Test
Steve Lee, PhD
Graduate Diversity Officer for the STEM Disciplines
stnlee@ucdavis.edu
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UC Davis Graduate School of
Management – Orientation
August 29, 2014
Summary
In this professional development workshop, my goal is to take research studies that relate to
student success and translating them into practical suggestions that will help you succeed. In other
words, my goal is to go from “papers to practice”. In this workshop, we will discuss three, interconnected
research studies that relate to student success:
• Grit – from Professor Angela Lee Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania
• Growth vs fixed mindsets – from Professor Carol Dweck at Stanford University
• Marshmallow test – from Professor Walter Mischel at Stanford University
After presenting these research studies, I hope to provide practical suggestions that will relate to your
start at UC Davis. These practical suggestions involve the importance of accurately assessing yourself and
strategically applying them into new challenges. It’s critical to first honestly assess yourself (in terms of
grit, a growth or fixed mindset, and ability to wait for delayed gratification), and then you can work on
developing and applying these attributes into your personal life. These simple steps of assessing
yourself and applying your assessment form a cyclical process to help you determine how you define
success and achieving your personal and professional goals.
References and Notes
● Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk “The key to success? Grit” on April 2013
○ http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit
○ “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is stick with
your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and
working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
● Grit test on Lee Duckworth’s website:
○ https://sasupenn.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_06f6QSOS2pZW9qR
● NPR (National Public Radio) story
○ “ On The Syllabus: Lessons In Grit” by Tovia Smith on March 17, 2014
○ http://www.npr.org/2014/03/17/290894364/on-the-syllabus-lessons-in-grit
● Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset: The new psychology of success”
○ This book provides a useful analysis to help you understand the differences between a fixed and
growth mindsets, and the benefits from having a growth mindset.
● Chip and Dan Heath’s book “Switch: How to change things when change is hard”
○ This book provides evidence-based approaches in how to change from a fixed to a growth
mindset, along with other practical suggestions on how to change yourself and organizations.
● “Comparative Analysis of Soft Skills: What is important for new graduates? Perceptions of Employers,
Alum, Faculty and Students” by Pat Crawford, Suzanne Lang, Wendy Fink, Robert Dalton, Laura Fielitz

21. ○ Michigan State University, College of Agriculture Natural Resources, 2011
○ http://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=3414
● Classic publications of research studies on our lack of metacognitive skills
○ Kruger, J. and Dunning, D. 1999. “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing
One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-assessments.” Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology 77 (6): 1121–34.
○ Dunning, D; Johnson K; Ehrlinger, J; Kruger, J. “Why people fail to recognize their own
incompetence” Curr Directions Psychol Sci . 2003, 12, 83–87.
● Marshall Goldsmith’s book “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There”
● Walter Mischel’s Marshmallow test
○ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment
○ Mischel describes his experiment on Charlie Rose
─ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b3SWsjWzdA
Summary of Carol Dweck’s Mindset
Fixed Mindset Grow h Mindset
ability is static ability is developed
avoids challenges embraces challenges
gives up easily persists in obstacles
sees effort as fruitless sees effort as necessary
ignores useful criticism learns from criticism
threatened by others inspired by others’ success
• Thanks for listening and contributing to the workshop! I hope that it was helpful.
• I would greatly appreciate your feedback to help me evaluate this new workshop and improve. You
can provide feedback, and also access a pdf of the slides and handout here: goo.gl/J9u7Bh
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