Examining Grit and GPA in College Students Who Are First-Generation, Low-Income, or Have a Disability

Abstract

This study investigated the predictive relationship between grit and its components (perseverance of effort and consistency of interest) on GPA among students at a small Midwestern private college. Using archival data from 234 participants and drawing upon the grit theory and Tinto’s integration Model, the research aimed to determine these effects while controlling for the following demographic factors: first-generation status, low-income background, and disability. Through hierarchical regression models, the study first examined the impact of overall grit on GPA after factoring in demographics. The initial model revealed significance for the demographic variables, explaining 10.2% of GPA variance. Notably, GPA was higher when students were not disabled (β = -.32, p = <.001, r_ab.c² = .079), not a first-generation college student (β = -.20, p = .005, r_ab.c² = .032), and not a low-income student (β = -.20, p = .002, r_ab.c² = .039). The second step of the model added in the overall grit score which was not significant (β = .13, p = .045, r_ab.c² = .016), failing to reject the null hypothesis. Further analysis assessed the unique effects of the grit components on GPA. Perseverance of effort showed significance (β = .19, p = .006, r_ab.c² = .029) which provided support to reject the null hypothesis. However, consistency of interest was not significant (β = -.01, p = .941, r_ab.c² = .000) which provided support to retain the null hypothesis. In summary, while grit did not significantly predict GPA, the study found that perseverance of effort had a notable positive prediction of GPA.