Aim/Purpose
This paper presents the findings of a study that explores whether growth mindset, self-efficacy, and goal-setting skills impact student performance and/or are interrelated. It also examined students’ perceptions of the efficacy of a mindset intervention program at a minority-serving institution.

Background
A mindset intervention was custom-created at a United States Historically Black College or University (HBCU) that included self-assessment instruments designed to measure self-efficacy, growth mindset, and goal setting.

Methodology
Self-assessment instruments were collected, and a satisfaction survey was ad-ministered. Descriptive analysis was performed to calculate the mean, standard deviation, and confidence at 95%. Additionally, ANOVAs, t-tests, and correlation analyses were conducted. During the analysis, the following hypotheses were tested.

Contribution
The results of this paper make a valuable contribution to a body of literature that has found a range of results regarding the efficacy of mindset interventions. Additionally, it focuses on a setting and a population that is all to often missing from the research literature. Nevertheless, more research across more environments is needed, especially at international minority-serving institutions.

Findings
In this paper, negative relationships were found between self-efficacy, goal setting, and student GPAs, whereas students with lower GPAs were found to have higher perceived self-efficacy and goal setting scores, which a possible interpretation could suggest may be linked to strong institutional supports for low academically achieving students, remediations, and compensatory behaviors resulting in a reverse causality. Growth mindset was found to have a weak relationship with student achievement, whereas higher growth mindset scores did correlate to higher GPA; however, the relationship was modest. With respect to student perceptions of the value and utility of the mindset intervention delivered, students reported highly positive perceptions of the value, usefulness, and impact of the mindset intervention, citing increased awareness and clarity of purpose.

Recommendations for Practitioners
As part of a commitment to positive student outcomes, faculty and administrators in higher education must be constantly exploring factors that may or may not impact student success.

Recommendation for Researchers
Research is needed to explore factors that may contribute to the success of underprepared college students, particularly those from low-income, first-generation, and minority groups.

Future Research
This mindset intervention can be replicated at the majority serving institutions, additional minority serving institutions, and institutions outside the United States, with findings compared. The self-assessment instruments utilized in this study have been validated and are freely available for adoption as long as attribution is provided.