The Impact of Relevance, Belonging, and Growth Mindset on Persistence in Economics

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This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project aims to strengthen capacity in economics at MSIs through research on the impact of institutional setting on underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students and women in economics. The PIs investigate to what extent the past findings on relevance, belonging, and growth mindset generalize beyond a single institution and how the university context interacts with students' development of an identity as an economist. Lower relevance, belonging and growth mindset are linked to worse grades and lower persistence in economics majors. This project proposes an important addition to our understanding of relevance, belonging, growth mindset, and persistence in economics by increasing the institutional and demographic breadth of research. Broader representation in economics will lead to more inclusive businesses and policy and accelerate economic growth.This project will increase understanding of the roles that relevance, belonging and growth mindset play as potential barriers or levers for change across diverse settings. The PIs use longitudinal surveys of students and faculty at 18 universities stratified by educational type to examine if releance, belonging and growth mindset develop differently in economics classes at MSIs and women's colleges than at non-MSIs and co-educational institutions. Collecting data on relevance, belonging, and growth mindset and persistence from approximately 1,800 students at different points in their educational trajectory at different points in time (a year apart) will facilitate distinguishing selection into institutions from the impact of experiences in those institutions. Understanding the role of MSIs and women’s colleges in promoting relevance, belonging, and growth mindset and persistence in economics will indicate important directions for interventions to promote diversity in economics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.