Center for Women’s Leadership (CWL) Studies GRIT in Graduates

Center for Women's Leadership
By Dr. Brandy Havens

As part of their ongoing commitment to bridging gender gaps and promoting equity in organizational leadership, the Center for Women’s Leadership (CWL) at the Forbes School of Business & Technology (FSBT) recently conducted a study to assess the role that GRIT, comprised of elements of passion and perseverance, plays in the success of women working-parent students.

At the UAGC May 2023 graduation in Phoenix, Arizona, representatives of the CWL surveyed more than 100 women graduates, 68.6% of whom identified as parents, and were graduating with a bachelor’s or master’s degree. These graduates responded to ten prompts, originally developed by Angela Duckworth and published in her 2016 book, GRIT, the Power of Passion and Perseverance, designed to measure their GRIT based on the level to which they agreed with or identified with each prompt.

The results showed that parent graduates were slightly “grittier” than nonparent graduates in both passion and perseverance. Younger parents, those between 25 and 34 years of age, scored highest on the perseverance scale, while older parents, those between 55 and 64 years of age, scored highest on the passion scale. Perhaps the most interesting result occurred in a specific perseverance prompt: “Setbacks don’t discourage me.” Both parents and nonparents scored notably lower on this prompt compared with the other perseverance prompts, with parents scoring 37.3% lower and nonparents scoring 31.1% lower.

Understanding how passion and perseverance influence the success of women students places the CWL in a much better position to offer the resources, development opportunities, and community support that will be most beneficial for women students at UAGC.   

2023 University Fellows Program Roundtable Session 4

2023 University Fellows Program Roundtable Session 4

Each UAGC University Fellows Program Roundtable highlights one critical student goal and three recently completed UFP projects. Thursday, September 21st at 11 AM PT Critical Student Goal: Enhance students’ economic return Brandy Havens - Promoting GRIT in Online Women Students Karen Ivy - Applying Artificial Intelligence Toward Student Success Kelly Olson Stewart - Culture of Care: Exploring Perceptions of Support from UAGC Doctoral Students.

University Fellows Research Roundtable Recordings (UFP) 2023

University Fellows Program offers up to $100K in grants per year for faculty engaged in research. The findings from such research support the University’s critical student goals such as

1. Retaining students during their first year of enrollment.

 
2. Supporting completion of programs and educational goals driven by student-based timelines.

 
3. Offering high value credential with marketable skills.

 
4. Enhancing students’ economic return.

The grants can be used for research assistants, materials and supplies, equipment, software, conferences, travel expenses, publication fees, and other research-related activities.

2023 UFP Roundtable Session 1

Video Description: Each UAGC University Fellows Program Roundtable highlights one critical student goal and three recently completed UFP projects. Thursday, August 10th at 11 AM PT Critical Student Goal: Retain students during their first year of enrollment Stephanie Fink - Making the C.A.S.E. : ePortfolio-Driven Design in the Liberal Arts. Holly Ourso - Live Learning Mathematics Expansion to Required Virtual Live Learning Mathematics Holly Lopez - ECE Retention Project

 

2023 UFP Roundtable Session 2

Video Description: Each UAGC University Fellows Program Roundtable highlights one critical student goal and three recently completed UFP projects. Thursday, August 24th at 11 AM PT Critical Student Goal: Support completion of programs and educational goals driven by student-based timelines Dan Tinianow - Expanding on immersive experiences for students and faculty Clifford Blizard - One Small Step to Lifelong Learning: Assessing the Short- and Long-Term Impacts of an Environmental Footprint Reduction Project on General Education University Students Wendy Conaway - Preparing for the Oral Defense: Enhancing Doctoral Students’ Public Speaking Skills.

2023 UFP Roundtable Session 3

Video Description: Each UAGC University Fellows Program Roundtable highlights one critical student goal and three recently completed UFP projects. Thursday, September 7th at 11 AM PT Critical Student Goal: Offer high-value credentials with marketable skills Tanya Mooney - The Impact of Student Study Hours: Perceived Perception of First-Year Student Success and Persistence Dan Tinianow - Supporting student success with interstitial skills courses Hwangji Lu - The Effectiveness of Implementing ePortfolio in a Capstone Course: A Case Study