Mindset Matters: The Power of College to Activate Lifelong Growth

by Daniel R. Porterfield

How colleges can foster growth mindsets among students—and why this approach matters.

We live in an era of escalating, tech-fueled change. Our jobs and the skills we need to work and thrive are constantly evolving, and those who can't keep up risk falling behind. That's where college comes in. In Mindset Matters, Daniel R. Porterfield advances a powerful new argument about the value of residential undergraduate education and its role in developing growth mindsets among students.

The growth mindset, according to Porterfield, is the belief that we can enhance our core qualities or talents through our efforts, strategies, and education, and with assistance from others. People with growth mindsets have faith in self-improvement. They tend to be goal oriented and optimistic, confident that they can master new challenges because they've done so in the past. Feedback is their friend, errors their opportunities to begin again. For students like this, college is a multiyear process of self-creation and self-emergence, a becoming that unfolds because they are applying themselves in a place rich with stimulating people, happenings, resources, and ideas.

America's colleges and universities help students build the skills and self-confidence they need for lifelong discovery, creativity, mentorship, teamwork, and striving. These five mindsets, the book argues, are critical for thriving in disruptive times, and students who develop them will reap the rewards long after they graduate. To show how college activates these mindsets and why it matters, Porterfield shares the personal stories of thirty recent graduates—many the first in their families to attend college. Their growth was both self-powered and supported by involved faculty, engaged peers, and opportunity-rich campuses. Porterfield also outlines how colleges and universities can do more to foster cultures of mentoring and personalized learning that help students become leaders of their own learning.

336 pages, Hardcover

Published June 25, 2024

Reviews

[Sara K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay for me. Lots of stories of extreme high achievers but I struggled to connect their success with practical ideas or strategies for average or struggling students.

[Chauna Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I came to this as a believer in the power of college to transform people's lives and our society for the better, that is I didn't learn anything I hadn't already learned through my 30+ years in higher education. I loved the stories of the students whose growth mindsets ignited in college (at Franklin & Marshall, where the author was president); I also felt mild frustration that 1) even these diverse students had access into an excellent liberal arts education through financially supported programs like Posse, and I don't know how to translate this at a non-selective public regional university, and 2) the current state of affairs in the government is rapidly eroding the power of colleges to genuinely educate. I'm impressed with the author, Porterfield, who now heads the Aspen Institute, but the book certainly doesn't feel like a realistic call to action to me right now.

[Francesca Morrissey · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, this a beautifully written book by a talented author. However, the book is one long piece of marketing for Franklin and Marshall and focuses almost entirely on students who are minorities, 1st generation college students, recent immigrants, or from low socioeconomic backgrounds - all together, probably a small percentage of F&M’s overall student population. While I don’t know that this book successfully makes the case that mindset matters, it definitely points out the shortfalls of our national public education system, especially our high schools, and makes the case that if someone isn’t there to catch a kid falling through the cracks, the future for such kids is pretty bleak. Definitely an interesting read, just not what one would expect based on the title.

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the author being such a champion for the university as a place of growth, innovation, and inspiration for the future. However, I was hoping to get some guidance on encouraging a growth mindset in my students, not simply being provided with examples of already stellar students who came into the author’s college with that grit in place.

[Joshua Evan]

In depth and personal look into what makes higher education valuable (and small, liberal arts colleges particularly).

Note: I know the author and he was president of my Alma mater