How Does Faculty Members' Grit Relate to Their Emotions and Success in Teaching and Research?

• In Event: Self-Efficacy, Self-Determined Motivation, and Grit in Relation to Faculty Outcomes:

Abstract

Grit is passion and perseverance towards long-term goals and has been widely studied among student populations; however, grit may also be applicable to university faculty as their work involves long-term tasks. One-hundred thirty-one faculty completed a grit scale, which had good reliability, yet was found to separate into two subconstructs: perseverance of effort and consistency of interest. Higher correlations were found between grit and research emotions (versus teaching emotions); specifically, grit positively correlated with positive emotions and negatively with negative emotions for research. Grit also had significant positive correlations with perceived value and success in research. Results have implications for faculty development and prospective faculty, such as exploring mechanisms to promoting grit thereby increasing the likelihood of research success.

Authors

• Jordan Jaeger, University of North Dakota

• Chialin Chang, University of North Dakota

• Robert H. Stupnisky, University of North Dakota