Growth Mindset

What is a “Growth Mindset”?

Growth Mindset is a term coined by Carol Dweck, I learned about the concept the summer after my sophomore year of college, as a TA for a university college class. The term refers to seeing challenges and choosing to employ a mindset in which you see a challenge as an opportunity for growth and try to tackle it with an open mind rather than as something you are unable to do because you don’t believe that you have the skillset to overcome. 

Carol Dweck

An example of a growth mindset, and I feel like the most commonly used example, would be trying to do math. Many people say that they “aren’t math people,” and go into situations or classes surrounding math with the belief that they aren’t going to be good at it, and don’t try as a result. The growth mindset principle would tell someone in this position that instead of going into the situation not believing in themself that they should instead think of math as a challenge that they are going to work hard to meet head on and succeed through hard work. 

What are some pros and cons?

• Pros of the Growth Mindset camp are that it encourages people to push themselves to expand their abilities to be able to do things they wouldn’t have been able to do without a more open mind.
• Cons of the Growth Mindset are that there are some challenges some people are just not going to be able to surmount, and may be more anxiety and struggle than they would be worth in the long run- and there are more challenges holding people back than just their own belief in their abilities.
• Some barriers are insurmountable for reasons beyond personal control- and trying to achieve the impossible is not always helpful. 

What do I think?

I think that Growth Mindset thinking is a good thing up to a certain point, and that I personally try to employ it in my day to day. I, and others, can live up to a fuller ability with an open mind. I have been able to accomplish a lot more than I otherwise would have been able to if didn‘t push myself, not only in school but in my hobbies and in athletic endeavors. I also think that some things are just not possible for me, and that is completely okay. 

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