SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY, 2017, 45(10), 1629–1642

© 2017 Scientific Journal Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.

https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.6400

EFFECTS OF GRIT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND

CAREER-RELATED ATTITUDES OF COLLEGE STUDENTS
IN KOREA

SURAN LEE
Baekseok University
YOUNG WOO SOHN
Yonsei University

Researchers have found that outstanding performance entails not only innate talent but also
focused practice and effort over time. Because college students must simultaneously strive
for academic achievement and prepare for a future career, we tested 253 students to examine
the effects of grit and deliberate practice on academic achievement and career attitudes in
a Korean context. Results showed that grit was associated with higher grades, and that this
relationship was mediated by deliberate practice. Grit was a significant predictor of career
preparation behavior and major–career relatedness when academic year and the Big Five
personality characteristics were controlled for. With this study, we have contributed to the
expertise literature by clarifying how grit influences college students’ academic achievement
and career-related attitudes.

Keywords: grit, deliberate practice, academic achievement, career preparation behavior,

career-related attitudes, academic major–career relatedness, conscientiousness.

The motivating force that underpins high achievement has been one of the
key research questions in psychology. Researchers have consistently argued
that noncognitive traits and quality of experience are more important for
high achievement than are cognitive ability or extent of experience (Camerer
& Johnson, 1991; Dawes, 1994; Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993).

Suran Lee, Graduate School of Education, Baekseok University; Young Woo Sohn, Department of
Psychology, Yonsei University.
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant, funded by the Korean
Government (NRF-2013S1A5A2A01018996).
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Young Woo Sohn, Department
of Psychology, Yonsei University, Yonsei-ro 50, Seoul 03722, People’s Republic of Korea.
Email: ysohn@yonsei.ac.kr

1629
1630 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT

Scholars have found that in addition to inborn talent, high achievement requires
grit and deliberate practice, such as setting long-term goals, will, and systematic
and consistent effort (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007; Ericsson,
2003).
The emerging concept of grit has generated increased attention, leading in
2013 to the U.S. Department of Education selecting it as a core competency for
the 21st century (Shechtman, DeBarger, Dornsife, Rosier, & Yarnall, 2013). In
Korea, however, empirical research on grit is scarce. Given that Korean students
are experiencing rising unemployment rates (Statistics Korea, 2016), college
students are preparing to survive in the career market rather than placing priority
on their goals and interests. Many enter college courses on topics that reflect
their top subjects but not their interests or long-term career objectives and so
prepare for a career that is not aligned with their academic major, while striving
to attain as many professional qualifications as possible. Given this trend, they
are described idiomatically as a generation that gave up courtship, marriage,
and childbirth to succeed in their studies and careers. It is, therefore, essential to
determine whether research results that emphasize the need for steady effort and
long-term goals also apply in Korea (Lee, 2012).
Duckworth and colleagues (2007) theorized that in addition to cognitive
traits such as IQ, noncognitive traits play an important role in a person’s
performance. They suggested that this noncognitive trait be termed grit, that is,
the drive to challenge oneself and achieve beyond what inborn abilities would
account for. Grit requires “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (p.
1087). Duckworth et al. carried out a series of studies to closely examine the
characteristics of grit and found that it can be used to explain which cadets
in the U.S. Military Academy pass their rigorous summer training, and also
significantly predicts scores for the U.S. National Spelling Bee. Although two
similar concepts, self-control and conscientiousness, are correlated with grit, they
failed to predict either the likelihood of passing the summer training regimen
or spelling bee scores. Specifically, Duckworth and Quinn (2009) found that
even though grit has some similarities with self-control and conscientiousness,
there are clear differences in perseverance and self-determination. For instance,
self-control is related to short-term regulation, such as not watching television
during examination periods, and although conscientious people are organized
and thorough when addressing tasks, the effort expended depends on the type
of achievement. Gritty people, in contrast, continue trying even after failure and
discouragement (Duckworth et al., 2007). Grit is highly correlated with many
achievements, especially learning and grade point average (Akos & Kretchmar,
2017; Hammond, 2017). For example, to identify the relationship between grit
and test scores, Duckworth, Kirby, Tsukayama, Berstein, and Ericsson (2011)
examined 139 students who were ranked within the top 4% of Scholastic Aptitude
 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT 1631
Test (SAT) examinees and found that grit predicted high academic achievement
even when the previous semester’s grades and SAT scores were controlled for.
Studies of grit have been gradually expanded; for instance, grit is currently
thought to be associated with diverse psychological adaptation indicators, as
well as positively correlated with life satisfaction, happiness, and possessing
a growth mindset, whereas it is negatively correlated with burnout, suicide,
and accidents (Blalock, Young, & Kleiman, 2015; Hochanadel & Finamore,
2015; Salles, Cohen, & Mueller, 2014; Singh & Jha, 2008). One of the typical
characteristics of gritty people is that they pursue deliberate practice, in which
the person seeks immediate feedback to identify shortcomings and then develops
specific abilities by working to close those gaps (Ericsson, 2007, 2009; Ericsson
et al., 1993). Generally, people believe that they will develop a skill if they enjoy
doing it and can do it without restrictions; however, the opposite seems to be the
case. For advancement, one should abide by well-structured regulations and exert
conscious effort, even if the practice is repetitive or boring (Duckworth et al.,
2011; Ericsson, 2006, 2007). Such deliberate practice is not merely repeatedly
practicing an acquired skill; rather, advancement demands extreme concentration
and the deployment of cognitive and physical resources. Pursuing deliberate
practice can be unpleasant, however, and can be a cause of burnout (Chaffin &
Imreh, 2002).
Duckworth and Eskreis-Winkler (2013) posited that a gritty person is like a
tortoise – slow, yet with the strength to achieve completion. Because gritty people
push themselves continuously along the bumpy road of deliberate practice, they
can achieve their long-term goals. Lee and Sohn (2013), in their study of high
school students’ grit and academic achievement, found that gritty students were
likely to have higher grades than less gritty students. This relationship was
mediated by deliberate practice. It is reasonable to predict that the same would be
true for college students in Korea, and that because high grades are advantageous
for long-term objectives, students with greater grit would engage in more
deliberate practice, which, in turn, would lead to higher academic achievement.
College students must devote effort not only to maintaining their grades, but
also to career preparation. Most students regard college as a time for making
decisions about and preparing for a future job. Career-related variables are
crucial indicators for college students’ adaptation to college life (Ginzberg,
Ginsburg, Axelrad, & Herma, 1951). Therefore, it is vital that we also understand
the impact of grit on a college student’s academic major- and career-related
variables. No researchers have directly explored the effects of grit on college
students’ career choices and preparation. However, the relationships between
variables can be inferred from related studies. First, Duckworth and colleagues
(2007) found that highly gritty adults are 35% less likely to experience job
turnover than are less gritty ones. Moreover, in Bowman, Hill, Denson, and
1632 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT

Bronkema’s (2015) study, college students high in grit exhibited a low tendency
to switch majors or careers; this is because highly gritty people typically maintain
their focus and continue to work hard.
In this study, we chose career preparation behavior and academic major–career
relatedness as our variables of interest. Career preparation behavior involves
making a reasonable career decision (e.g., based on information gathered) and
is related to behaviors that follow the choice of career (e.g., detailed planning
and studying relevant subjects). Adaptive college students are more likely to
participate in career preparation behaviors (Lent & Brown, 2013). The concept of
major–career relatedness describes the accordance between a person’s academic
major and their chosen career. The academic major provides experience and
knowledge within that field, so when academic major–career relatedness is high,
engagement, career satisfaction, and income tend to be high as well (Pyhältö,
Toom, Stubb, & Lonka, 2012; Wolniak & Pascarella, 2005).
Conceptually, grit means being interested in a specific activity, setting a clear
objective, and ceaselessly endeavoring to achieve a goal (Duckworth et al.,
2007). Hence, unlike those who choose their academic major based merely on
examination scores, we posited that gritty students would maintain their interests
because they chose a major that aligns with their interests. Gritty students would
also consider their academic major when deciding career paths, which signals
high major–career relatedness. As highly gritty students have clear long-term
objectives, it can be predicted that they would continuously engage not only in
their studies, but also in career-related behaviors. Nevertheless, to our knowledge,
few studies of grit in relation to college students’ academic achievement and
career preparation have been conducted.
In this study, we aimed to understand the effect of grit on Korean college
students’ adaptation and achievement. Because grit can be affected by cultural
differences (Duckworth, 2016), it is especially meaningful to study it in a Korean
setting. Grit was originally proposed as a concept in the West, where autonomy
and individuality are emphasized. Accordingly, in this context, setting one’s
own objectives and devoting effort to their attainment are connected to higher
achievement (Hallowell, 1955). In Korean culture, however, where collectivism
is strongly encouraged (Ho, 1995), evaluation by and the approval of others are
crucial metrics. In this culture, less gritty students may experience an identity
crisis, whereby they seek to meet social standards instead of concentrating on
their own goals. Gritty students, in contrast, already know the purpose of college
life and the career they intend to pursue, and, therefore, can remain committed
to long-term goals. Empirical research on whether grit would positively function
in Korean culture, therefore, is essential (Ho, 1995). To this end, we examined
whether gritty students would perform at a higher level than less gritty students.
In addition, we sought to advance our understanding of grit by comparing
 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT 1633
highly gritty students with less gritty ones with respect to career decisions and
preparation behaviors.
In doing so, we focused on two aspects of students’ experience. First, we
investigated the effects of grit and deliberate practice on college students’
academic achievement. For college students, who typically have many options
for both academic and extracurricular activities, greater will and a clear sense of
purpose are necessary to fully engage in learning. Thus, it is reasonable to infer
that grit would significantly predict deliberate practice and, in turn, be connected
to higher academic achievement. That is, deliberate practice would fully mediate
the relationship between grit and grades. Second, we aimed to identify the
effects of grit on students’ careers. It is more likely that gritty students would
continuously endeavor to accomplish their objectives than less gritty students
would. Traditionally, academic year and personality are the variables known to
affect one’s career path. To understand grit’s unique effects, we controlled for
these variables and formed the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Grit will predict deliberate practice and, in turn, academic
achievement; that is, the relationship between grit and academic achievement
will be mediated by deliberate practice.
Hypothesis 2: Grit will predict career preparation behavior even after controlling
for academic year and personality.
Hypothesis 3: Grit will predict academic major–career relatedness even after
controlling for academic year and personality.

Method

Participants
Participants were 235 students taking a psychology class at a college in Seoul,
South Korea. They participated in the study in exchange for course credit. Of
these, 107 were male (42.3%), 135 female (53.4%), and 11 (4.3%) did not
identify their gender. The average age was 20.90 years (SD = 2.29). In terms of
academic year, 82 were freshmen, 65 sophomores, 36 juniors, 59 seniors, and 11
did not identify their year. Participation consisted of completing an online survey.

Measures
Grit. We measured grit using the Korean version (Lee & Sohn, 2013) of the
Grit-O, the original Grit Scale (Duckworth et al., 2007). The scale measures two
factors: consistency of interests (e.g., “I become interested in new pursuits every
few months”; reverse-scored) and perseverance of effort (e.g., “Setbacks don’t
discourage me”). Each factor consists of six items and participants respond using
a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = disagree strongly to 5 = agree strongly.
A high score means that the level of grit is high. In the American version,
1634 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT

Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .73 to .83 (Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth &
Quinn, 2009), and in our study using the Korean version, the alpha values were
.79 and .67, respectively.
Deliberate practice. Scale items for deliberate practice are varied based
on field. We composed seven items using procedures identical to those
used by Vallerand and colleagues (2007), which reflect the definition and
characteristics of deliberate practice. Within the academic field, it is important
to include where and with whom the student is studying, along with the study
strategy used; these items were selected from Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, and
McKeachie’s (1993) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Sample
items include “I prefer studying alone in a quiet place to studying with somebody
else” and “When I am confused with something from a class, I repeatedly
think and study to figure it out.” The composite average score was used for
analysis. Participants rated their responses on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from
1 = disagree strongly to 7 = agree strongly. Cronbach’s alpha for the seven items
in our study was .70.
Personality. To measure the Big Five personality factors of extraversion,
agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, we
used Goldberg’s (1999) 50-item International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). The
IPIP assesses each of the five factors by asking participants to rate 10 items
using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = disagree strongly to 5 = agree
strongly. Cronbach’s alphas are reported to be over .70. We used the version that
Yoo, Lee, and Ashton (2004) translated into Korean and adapted for use with
Korean subjects. Cronbach’s alphas in our study were .88, .81, .73, .78, and .90
for extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and
neuroticism, respectively.
Academic GPA. Students reported their cumulative GPA.
Career preparation behavior. We assessed career preparation behavior using
the 18-item scale that Kim and Kim (1997) developed, which assesses various
methods of searching for and collecting information about careers in a Korean
context. These items were adapted from the Career Exploration Survey (Stumpf,
Colarelli, & Hartman, 1983), Vocational Questionnaire II (Slaney, 1988), and
Career Planning Questionnaire (Westbrook et al., 1985). The higher the score,
the more the student is preparing for a career. Participants rate items using a
5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = disagree strongly to 5 = agree strongly. A
sample item is “I have bought a book or a leaflet related to the job or career I am
interested in during the last few weeks.” Cronbach’s alpha in our study was .89.
Major–career relatedness. We used Cho’s (2009) five-item scale, which aims
to identify the relatedness of a student’s academic major when making career
choices. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = disagree
strongly to 5 = agree strongly. A sample item is “I will find a job related to my
 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT 1635
current major after graduation.” Cronbach’s alpha has been reported as .75 (Eun,
Sohn, & Lee, 2013), and in our study it was .83.

Results

Table 1 shows the correlations between the main variables in the study. Grit
showed significant positive correlations with career preparation, major–career
relatedness, and conscientiousness (r = .20–.50, all ps < .01). Deliberate practice
was positively correlated with all variables except agreeableness, neuroticism,
and major–career relatedness (r = .14–.41, all ps < .05). Of the five personality
factors, only conscientiousness showed a significant relationship with GPA
(r = .21, p < .01).

Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations Between Grit, Big Five Personality
Traits, Major–Career Relatedness, and Career Preparation Behavior

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Grit 3.06 0.44 –

2. Deliberate practice 4.00 0.69 .42** –
3. Grade point average 3.27 0.65 .14* .19** –
4. Conscientiousness 3.12 0.58 .50** .41** .21** –
5. Openness 3.41 0.53 .18** .29** .06 .13* –
6. Extraversion 3.38 0.69 .22** .28** .07 .17** .37** –
7. Agreeableness 3.63 0.55 .05 .14* .05 .13* .20 .41* –
8. Neuroticism 2.99 0.80 -.23** .02 -.07 -.16* -.02 -.12 .06 –
9. Relatedness 3.45 0.90 .20** .07 -.02 .05 -.01 .12 -.02 -.10 –
10. Preparation 2.81 0.68 .26** .25** .22** .23** .16* .21** .08 .02 .20** –

Note. Openness = openness to experience, Relatedness = major–career relatedness, Preparation =

career preparation behavior. * p < .05, ** p < .01.

On the basis of a previous finding that a higher level of grit is associated

with deliberate practice and, in turn, greater accomplishment (Lee & Sohn,
2013), we examined the mediating effect between these variables. For deliberate
practice, we used a score derived from learning habits, including goal setting,
self-monitoring, studying locations, regularity, repetition, and feedback. We used
PROCESS software version 2.11 (Hayes, 2013) to test the mediating effect of
deliberate practice in the association between grit and academic achievement. The
direct effects of grit on academic achievement were not significant, suggesting
that deliberate practice fully mediated the pathway between grit and academic
achievement. A mediating relationship (indirect effects) existed ( = .49,
SE = 0.15, lower limit confidence interval = 0.26, upper limit confidence
interval = 0.80). Indirect effects are regarded as significant when confidence
intervals do not include zero (Hayes, 2013). Thus Hypothesis 1 was supported.
1636 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT

To identify the effect of grit on career preparation behavior, we entered

academic year in Stage 1 of a hierarchical regression analysis, the Big Five
personality factors in Stage 2, and grit in Stage 3. In Stage 3, grit independently
predicted career preparation behavior, even after controlling for academic year
and personality. This is also shown by the R-squared change, so adding grit
significantly improved the predictive power of the model. As is shown in Table
2, academic year significantly predicted career preparation behavior in Stage
1. The reason for this may be that as students progress from one year to the
next, career decisions become more imminent. The more senior the student,
therefore, the more likely he or she is to have engaged in career preparation
behavior. In Stage 2, out of the Big Five personality factors, conscientiousness
and extraversion had significant effects on career preparation behavior. When we
entered grit into the regression as a predictor in Stage 3, its explanatory power
increased significantly. After the effects of academic year and personality were
controlled for, a significant increase in explanatory power was evident, which
supports Hypothesis 2.

Table 2. Results of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Grit Predicting Career Preparation
Behavior and Major–Career Relatedness

Variables Career preparation behavior Major–career relatedness

 R2 ΔR2  R2 ΔR2

Step 1 .067** .009

Academic year .26** .10
Step 2 .153** .086** .037 .028
Openness to experience .07 -.09
Conscientiousness .18** .03
Extraversion .17* .16*
Agreeableness -.02 -.08
Neuroticism .08 -.05
Step 3 .175* .022* .069* .031**
Grit .18* .21**

Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01.

Using a hierarchical regression analysis, we also examined the effect of grit

on academic major–career relatedness. As is shown in Table 2, in Stage 1,
academic year did not have a significant effect on choosing a career related to
one’s academic major. In addition, except for extraversion, the personality factors
entered in Stage 2 did not have a significant effect on academic major–career
relatedness. After the effects of academic year and personality were controlled
for, however, grit had a significant effect on academic major–career relatedness.
This supports Hypothesis 3, such that gritty students make academic major and
career choices that are compatible with their interests.
 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT 1637
Discussion

In our study, deliberate practice fully mediated the relationship between grit
and academic grades. This result indicates that even in college settings, where not
only grades but other achievements are valued, gritty students get good grades
and, further, that this relationship could be altered by deliberate practice. The
mediating effect we demonstrated supports the argument that grit is a force that
motivates deliberate practice (Duckworth et al., 2007).
In addition, we confirmed that deliberate practice has a meaningful effect
on academic achievement and is not exclusive to cultural and sports activities.
In academics, practice is typically considered to be equal to the hours spent
studying. However, scholars who have applied the theory of deliberate practice
have shown that clear goal setting, feedback on shortcomings, and concentrated
effort for advancement, rather than only time spent, are also important (Ericsson,
2003). Thus, we modified the deliberate practice scale normally used in fields
such as music, art, and sports, and strove to reflect the properties of deliberate
practice and suitably adapt the scale for an academic context. When we entered
students’ daily studying hours (outside of school) as a mediating variable, it
did not have a significant effect. This is consistent with Plant, Ericsson, Hill,
and Asberg’s (2005) findings; they also suggested that the hours spent studying
cannot solely predict academic achievement, and that the student’s method
of studying, which is itself a deliberate practice, could significantly predict
school grades. Plant et al. referred to Michaels and Miethe (1989), who found
that the hours spent studying without listening to music or watching television
significantly predicted GPA. This further demonstrates that study quality, not
simply hours, is a factor of deliberate practice.
The results of our hierarchical regression analysis indicate that grit also has
a significant effect on choosing a career path that is related to the student’s
academic major. First, our results show that the higher the academic year, the
more likely the student is to engage in career preparation behavior. This is
because for most students, the necessity of embarking on a career becomes more
imminent as the student progresses toward graduation. When personality factors
were entered into the analysis, we found that conscientiousness and extraversion
were significant predictors of career preparation behavior. These results are
in line with those of Song and Lee (2014), who found that students high in
conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness to experience participated in
more career preparation behavior. Although academic year and personality
are variables that affect career preparation behavior, even when these were
controlled for, grit exhibited significantly greater predictive power. This supports
our hypotheses that grit would have significant effects not only on academic
achievement, but also on career-related variables. Gritty students engaged in
1638 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT

more career-related activities even when we controlled for individual differences

in academic year and personality.
In the Stage 1 and Stage 2 models into which academic year and personality
had been entered, their predictive power for academic major–career relatedness
was not significant; in fact, except for extraversion, they had no impact.
Only grit had a significant effect. The result that personality factors did not
significantly influence academic major–career relatedness supports findings
by other researchers that factors such as interest, ability, and extrinsic rewards
have more direct effects on academic major–career relatedness (Easterling &
Smith, 2008). High academic major–career relatedness can lead a person to use
relevant skills acquired in college in business settings, and, in turn, enable the
person to function more successfully in the professional world (Pyhältö et al.,
2012; Wolniak & Pascarella, 2005). Overall, we can expect that students high
in grit would tend to choose their academic major based on consistent interests
and long-term objectives, including those connected to career. For these students,
studying is not simply homework somebody forces them to do; they view it as a
valuable resource for the future.
In our study, students’ academic majors were not controlled for, and the
relationship between grit and academic major–career relatedness may differ
depending on the subject majored in. For instance, art majors are less likely
than students majoring in humanities, science, and engineering are to follow
successful career paths immediately, which may reduce the relationship between
grit and academic major–career relatedness. Therefore, it would be useful in
future research to control for students’ academic major or examine the impact
of their major on the relationship between grit and academic major–career
relatedness.
It is especially important, we believe, to note that conscientiousness, which
is a significant predictor for career preparation behavior, was not significant
when academic major career relatedness was entered as an independent variable.
This observation is crucial for distinguishing between conscientiousness and
grit. Conscientious students work hard even if they have not yet identified their
career goals. Gritty students, on the other hand, are more likely to already have
an objective or to have chosen a specific career path, and then invest concentrated
effort toward achieving that goal. In other words, conscientiousness can help
students to prepare for a career (e.g., studying for language examinations,
exploring various jobs, acquiring licenses). We found, however, that conscien-
tiousness was of no help when identifying or refining a specific career choice.
Even though these students have eagerly and substantively prepared for the future,
choosing a specific career path can be difficult for those who lack grit. Although
conscientiousness reflects whether a person is working hard, grit shows whether
the person is working hard toward a goal.
 EFFECTS OF GRIT ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT 1639
Our findings expand understanding of some major variables in this field of
research, such as grit and deliberate practice, and we accomplished this by
applying these variables to Korean college students’ experiences and academic
histories. This approach is educationally and socially meaningful, because in
Korean society, college students are required to undertake internships, language
training abroad, or exchange student programs. If these findings were applied
and there was more focus on grit than conscientiousness, it would help students
to identify a longer-term goal and then choose which of these experiences would
best help them achieve it.
Our findings demonstrate that gritty students not only attain higher grades,
but also bring a mature attitude to their choice of career and preparation for it.
Thus, instead of advising students to simply collect the kinds of qualifications
top corporations expect, career counselors should encourage them to find an
area in which they can invest their passion, establish a concrete goal, and exert
systematic effort to achieve it. Further, for students who seek improved grades,
the sheer number of hours spent studying should not be the focus, but rather their
learning strategy, along with regularity and consistency.
A longer-term perspective than is typically adopted in research is essential
to understand the characteristics of grit. Because goal consistency is grit’s core
aspect, it is critical to choose an independent variable that involves long-term
plans. We did not identify whether participants had a career plan or, if they did,
whether their objectives were aligned with their academic achievements. For
students, academic achievement can in itself be a significant goal. However, if a
student’s long-term goal is associated with academic achievement, grit would have
a significant effect in academic settings. If not, grit and academic achievement
would not show a significant relationship. Therefore, our understanding of grit
and deliberate practice could be further expanded by following up with our
participants to identify which careers they choose and whether they achieve their
long-term goals.

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