Students' Growth Mindsets, Goals, and Academic Outcomes in Mathematics

The majority of educational research on the associations between growth constructs and academic outcomes has adopted a somewhat piecemeal approach, focusing on either growth mindset (implicit beliefs about intelligence) or growth goals. We explore an integrative approach to analyzing the impact of well-established and emerging growth constructs (viz. growth mindset, self-based growth goals, task-based growth goals) on academic outcomes in mathematics. Our participants were secondary school students (n = 4,411) in grades 7-9 from 19 schools in Australia. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the measurement and substantive hypotheses in our study. We found that growth mindset, self-based growth goals, and task-based growth goals were well represented by an underlying growth orientation factor. Additionally, after controlling for five student background factors (e.g., sex, socioeconomic status [SES]), students' growth orientation positively predicted mathematics engagement and achievement. These results contribute to the growing literature on educational growth constructs and academic success.