What Role Does Grit Play in the Academic Success of Black Male Collegians at Predominantly White Institutions?

Abstract

This study tests the importance of a noncognitive trait, grit, to predicting grades for a sample of Black males attending a predominantly White institution. Using multivariate statistics and hierarchical regression techniques, results suggest that grit is positively related to college grades for Black males and that background traits, academic factors, and grit explain 24 % of the variance in Black male’s college grades. Grit, alone, added incremental predictive validity over and beyond traditional measures of academic success such as high school grade point average and American College Test scores. Implications for policy and practice are highlighted.