How Does Perseverance of Effort Influence the University Outcomes of Historically Underrepresented Students?

Abstract

Grit has become a popular concept in the education field and is characterised by consistency of interest and perseverance of effort. This study focuses on one dimension of grit, perseverance of effort, to examine if it has compensatory effects for historically underrepresented students. Using a large, diverse sample of undergraduates, the results indicate that perseverance of effort has a stronger relationship with some process indicators of student learning than for traditional students. Additionally, we did not observe any stronger relationships for traditional students relative to non-traditional populations. Consequently, the results suggest that perseverance of effort can have compensatory effects that can help historically underrepresented students overcome obstacles to student success.