Dr. Arturo Sesma, assistant professor in the Psychology Department at St. Catherine University, has submitted a proposal regarding non-cognitive skills (NCS) and academic outcomes. Sesma is collaborating with Paige Embertson ’15, Kelsey Olson ’19, and Dr. Jamie Peterson, associate professor. They will be presenting at the American Psychological Association’s National Convention in August.
The proposal attempts “to explain why some students fare poorly in college despite strong high school and college entrance exam, researchers have identified a number of non-cognitive skills (NCS) that may be as important to student academic outcomes as cognitive ability.” The NCS that Sesma et al. are investigating are growth mindset, belongingness, and grit.
Sesma et al. are attempting to: “1) replicate growth-mindset findings on academic outcomes using an intervention design with students from an all women’s university; and 2) examine whether belongingness and grit moderate any putative differences between the control and experimental groups on academic outcomes.”
They are currently collecting data from the 2015-2016 cohort of first-year students at St. Catherine University.
Stay tuned for photos, and the results will be posted here after the convention in August.
St. Kate's Psychology 
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