Academic Resilience in College Students: Relationship between Coping and GPA

The Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems theory (PVEST) proposes that an individual's identity is formed as a result of the daily life events they experience and their cultural background (McGee & Spencer, 2013; McGee & Spencer, 2012; Spencer, 2011; Spencer et. Al, 2015). PVEST uses a systems-oriented human development perspective to maximize our understanding of not only resilience but also vulnerability and risk factors often experienced by marginalized youth (Talley, Scherer & Hill, 2018). According to PVEST, the approach these individuals utilize to cope with these experiences, either adaptive or maladaptive contribute to identity formation. In this study, Mindfulness was explored as one possible adaptive coping mechanism to determine how well it predicts academic success. By operationalizing Mindfulness as an adaptive coping mechanism, we posited that adaptive coping would contribute positively to academic identity, measured as cumulative grade point average. The aim of this study was to determine how well mindfulness, cognitive-emotional regulation and self-handicapping behaviours predict academic success in African American STEM students. This research is part of a larger longitudinal intervention aimed to increase retention of STEM majors. There was a total of 400 African American STEM students who participated in the study. Participants filled out questionnaires that measured self-handicapping, cognitive-emotional regulation, and mindfulness. The results reiterated the importance of incorporating self-regulation and mindfulness practices in education.