Does It Help to Have Sisu? Situational Grit and Challenge in Finnish and American Students

• In Event: Poster Session 17
  In Poster Session: Motivation in Education SIG Poster Session 2

Abstract

The non-cognitive factors that impact student achievement, such as motivation and “grit,” are receiving increasing attention worldwide. Given the economic growth and activity in STEM fields, how motivation and grit influence students’ choices about pursuing careers in STEM is of great interest. This study explores the relationships between situational grit, challenge, and feelings of giving up in science classes using experience sampling method data from Finnish and US high school students. We find that grit is less situationally dependent than challenge, but that a substantial portion of the variance in feelings of grit do depend on the situation. We also find that grit is important for not giving up when situational challenge increases.

Authors

• Katariina Salmela-Aro, Cicero Learning, University of Helsinki

• Jukka Marjanen, University of Helsinki

• Barbara Schneider, Michigan State University

• Jari Lavonen, University of Helsinki

• Christopher R Klager, Michigan State University