The differences in a "growth mindset" and a "fixed mindset."
A popular trend in business and higher education, “growth mindset” can have significant downsides when its principles are misapplied, medical educators caution in a new paper.
Growth mindset is a particular approach to challenges based in the belief that individuals have the capacity to adapt and grow; those with this mindset view failure as an opportunity to learn rather than as a sign of failure. This empowering approach has been shown to have many benefits in educational psychology literature, including improving performance, increasing resilience and fostering commitment to lifelong learning, particularly for minorities and for women in scientific fields. Recently, the creators of mindset theory have reviewed years of research and suggested that misapplying the theory’s ideas can lead to an ineffective, even harmful state called “false growth mindset.” In such cases, educators and institutions may be causing disillusionment and reducing resilience by making common errors.
In a new publication, the School of Medicine’s Milad Memari, MD, and collaborators describe ways in which growth mindset has taken off in medical education in recent years, while also cautioning that this implementation is “essential but complicated.” The lessons he and his co-authors share are targeted at medical educators but can be applied for anyone who wants to capitalize on growth mindset to help themselves, their students or their employees reach their fullest potential.
“There are many ways that we can change the education of future doctors to focus on their growth rather than test scores and performance,” said Memari, a primary-care physician at UVA Health and educator at the UVA School of Medicine. “Applying the lessons learned from years of mindset studies can help us develop more resilient, growth-oriented future doctors.”
About Growth Mindset
Growth mindset has long been promoted by psychologist Carol Dweck, who contrasts that concept with a “fixed mindset” that people have a limited capacity to learn and grow they cannot surpass. Dweck also coined the term “false growth mindset” to describe common ways her growth-mindset principles have been misapplied.
Memari and his co-authors note that medical educators are increasingly embracing growth mindset to combat higher education’s rigid focus on grades, rankings and performance comparisons. In medical schools, for example, failures can be seen as something to hide rather than as learning opportunities, they note. In their new paper, the authors applaud efforts to “normalize a culture of feedback and to identify biases and stereotypes that arise from fixed thinking.”
But they also caution that trying hard, by itself, is not enough. Educators should not just applaud effort or flexibility but help students develop strategies that will lead to success, the authors write. Wasting hours on misguided efforts, they say, only leads to burnout and disillusionment. “Seeking honest feedback and guidance is every bit as important in learning as is effort, and improvement often requires self-reflection and strategic adjustment on the part of the learner,” the authors write.
They recommend these steps to capitalize on the potential of growth mindset:
- Provide mindset training to educators and supervisors, so that they understand the principles more fully and can better guide students;
- encourage faculty to share their personal stories of failure to demonstrate that setbacks are normal even for successful people;
- rethink assessment so that evaluators focus not only on grades and outcomes but on how students respond to struggles; and
- foster a growth-mindset culture by increasing learning and feedback opportunities, including more nongraded opportunities, throughout medical education.
“We have a responsibility to continue to improve the way we develop future doctors to focus on their growth as well as performance,” Memari said. “Long-term, growth mindset can help doctors maintain their wellness in difficult times and create a better environment for students, residents and, ultimately, our patients.”
Paper Published
Memari and his co-authors, Katherine Gavinski, MD, and Marie K Norman, PhD, have published their paper in the journal Academic Medicine. The authors have no financial interest in the work.
To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA, subscribe to the Making of Medicine blog.
