> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
head count logo 100

Head Count: The 4-Letter Word That Everybody’s Talking About

Admissions and enrollment.

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

The 4-Letter Word That Everybody’s Talking About

By  Eric Hoover
October 5, 2012

Denver — Here at this giant gathering of admissions officers and high-school counselors, I keep hearing the same word over and over. People have mentioned it during sessions, uttered it over coffee, and probed its meaning in conversations. The word is “grit.”

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

Denver — Here at this giant gathering of admissions officers and high-school counselors, I keep hearing the same word over and over. People have mentioned it during sessions, uttered it over coffee, and probed its meaning in conversations. The word is “grit.”

It’s as good a word as any for the determination that many educators now associate with student success. Grit, as described by some researchers, is the habit of overcoming challenges, of learning from mistakes instead of being defeated by them. One administrator described it as “that fire in the belly.”

It’s long been said that test scores and grade-point averages don’t tell you the whole story about an applicant, but these days there’s growing interest in ways of measuring—and improving—student’s “noncognitive” skills, as speakers here at the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual meeting attested.

Some institutions, such as Tufts and DePaul Universities, have incorporated noncognitive assessments into their evaluations of applicants. And as several admissions officers here predicted, the future of college admissions will include more—perhaps many more—of those measures.

After all, we’re learning more and more about why students succeed or fail. During a discussion on Friday, Angela Duckworth, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, described her research on aspects of achievement that have to do with effort, rather than with talent or ability.

ADVERTISEMENT

In short, Ms. Duckworth explained, a person’s IQ may not be enough to explain life outcomes. In turn, the conventional measures of achievement may or may not match what’s going on inside a student’s head. Haven’t you ever met an Ivy League student with a sterling GPA who just so happened to lack passion, curiosity, and a sense of purpose?

Ms. Duckworth has developed a 10-question “Grit Scale” that asks about diligence, goal-completion, and dealing with setbacks. Students who display grit, she said, “are not always as smart as less gritty individuals, but they actually perform beautifully in highly challenging situations where dropout is likely.”

Years ago, when I asked admissions officers about noncognitive measures, I sometimes heard a chuckle. Some described such measures as too soft or too subjective for use in evaluating large numbers of applicants.

That suspicion seems to be easing, however. As more independent schools and nonprofit organizations are using research on noncognitive skills to help prepare students for college, alternative ways of measuring students’ potential are becoming more familiar in admissions circles. One dean was downright giddy about the prospect of incorporating Ms. Duckworth’s Grit Scale into his admissions process (with the approval of his president, of course).

In the end, embracing new measures of potential doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning traditional ones. Ms. Duckworth cautioned educators against assuming that noncognitive measures were inherently at odds with cognitive measures. “It’s not necessarily that IQ doesn’t matter,” she said, “but I think the promising message for students is that we can all work harder, at least most of us can.”

ADVERTISEMENT

In other words, when a student struggles, it’s not necessarily the case that he or she lacks the intelligence to succeed. “An IQ problem—that’s not what makes schoolwork hard,” Ms. Duckworth said. “Effort is hard, confusion is hard, boredom is hard.”

And “hard” is not the same thing as “can’t.”

Eric Hoover
Eric Hoover writes about the challenges of getting to, and through, college. Follow him on Twitter @erichoov, or email him, at eric.hoover@chronicle.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin