Grit Predicts Academic Achievement among Undergraduate Science Teachers at a University of Science and Technology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Research shows that grit is one of the non-cognitive factors that affect academic achievement among college students. As a result, grit has of late attracted attention among academic circles. METHODS: We used a correlational research design and a quantitative technique to establish the association between grit and academic achievement among pre-service science teachers. The sample was taken using a census and comprised 381 participants. The study site was a university of science and technology in Mbarara city, Uganda. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The analytical strategy was linear regression models, at a significance of p ≤.05. RESULTS: In the findings, 22.69 (SD = 1.43) was the mean age of the study participants. The majority of the students were male (80.3%) and government-sponsored (53.3%). There was a significant and positive association between grit and the academic achievement of the students (B =.231, p <.001). Overall, 5.1% of students’ academic achievement was explained by grit. CONCLUSION: Grit is a relatively important non-academic element that predicts academic achievement among pre-service teachers of science. Focused intervention is necessary for improving undergraduate students’ grit and enhancing their achievement in their Science with Education program.