The (Lack of) Efficacy of Social Belonging and Growth Mindset Interventions Among College Students

Using four large-scale experiments across two major Canadian universities, we experimentally evaluate the effects of growth mindset and social belonging interventions on student outcomes.

Using four large-scale experiments across two major Canadian universities, we experimentally evaluate the effects of growth mindset and social belonging interventions on student outcomes. In a sample of nearly 12,000 students, we find no immediate or dynamic effects on student grades and no effect on persistence through university. We further combine survey and administrative data with machine learning methods to explore treatment effect heterogeneity, finding no evidence of meaningful variation in treatment effects across student subgroups. Despite the recent promise of these light-touch interventions, our findings indicate further research is required to identify the contexts in which their benefits generalize.