A Quasi-Experimental Design: Examining the Power of Hope and Grit with Academic Success and Persistence in First-Year STEM Students

This quantitative study examined grit and hope scores with a population of first-year Science, Technology and Engineering (STEM) students. The researcher strived to understand if higher grit and hope scores correlate with higher grade point averages (GPA) and persistence in STEM among first-year STEM students enrolled in a mid-sized, suburban, private research institution in the northeastern United States. Nationally of the college student's pursuing higher education degrees, 48% pursuing a STEM bachelor's degree and 69% pursuing a STEM associate degree will switch their major within their first or second year. Over the last few years, the United States has been falling behind in STEM proficiency. To address this glaring gap, the United States will need approximately 1 million more STEM workers than the United States is prepared to produce. With this present study the researcher hypothesized that grit would predict hope and academic success within first-year STEM students. First-year STEM students were given a survey containing the Grit-S Scale and the Adult Hope Scale (AHS) to measure both grit and hope. The researcher utilized statistical analysis to analyze the data obtained from this study. Results include, total hope and total grit were significantly correlated with one another as well as hope and perseverance of effort (POE), and POE and agency. Agency was found to be a significant predictor as well as the highest predictor of first semester GPA among first-year STEM students. Additionally, students who exhibited high hope earned significantly higher first semester GPAs than their low hope peers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]