While research has established high school grades as the most reliable predictor of success in college, a new study of a large and diverse group of incoming freshman shines the light on a series of non-academic factors that also play a role.
Thrivers are more willing to study more hours per week to get the higher GPA they expect, are purpose-driven and express more philanthropic goals, the study found, whereas divers are more likely to cram for exam, procrastinate, and express superficial goals such as “get rich” or be “successful” in business.
Those conclusions were reached in part based on an analysis of written responses provided by students who partook in the study, conducted last fall among first-year economics students at the three campuses at the University of Toronto.
“Divers are significantly likely to use words which highlight wealth,” the study states. “Thrivers, on the other hand, are more likely to highlight how they plan to contribute to society, using words such as ‘human’ and ‘people.’”
The study — titled “Thrivers and Divers: Using Non-Academic Measures to Predict College Success” — was conducted by three economics professors. They are Graham Beattie, of the University of Pittsburgh, and Jean-William P. Laliberté and Philip Oreopoulos, both of the University of Toronto.
Although the study was conducted among 6,000 students in Canada, the researchers suggest that it has implications for how to help struggling students in the United States as well.
