In response to interest in the role of noncognitive factors in academic performance, several theoretical models have been developed; however, there have been few empirical attempts to validate those models, particularly with minority populations. This study used measures of academic mindsets, social skills, academic perseverance, learning strategies, and academic performance to test the structural pathways of a well-known hypothesized model of noncognitive factors and academic performance proposed by researchers at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. The population of study consisted of high school students from a mainly Hispanic, low-income school district. Results support the hypothesized model; however, academic perseverance was not significantly related to academic performance in the context of other noncognitive factors. Additionally, findings differed across groups, including age (e.g., freshman vs. senior), socioeconomic status (e.g., parent education, free/reduced priced lunch), and race/ethnicity.

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Social development refers to the process through which individuals learn to get along with others. It encompasses the formation of friendships and romantic relationships as well as experiences of bullying and loneliness. Across the life span, cognitive development enables increasingly complex social interactions, and the most important contexts for social development expand. Early in life, family is the primary context for social development, but in adulthood the social world grows to include peers, colleagues, and others. Social development is critical for well-being. Research finds that the lasting social bonds that individuals form are perhaps the most important ingredient in a life well lived.

In response to interest in the role of non-cognitive factors in academic performance, several theoretical models have been developed; however, there have been few empirical attempts to validate those models particularly with majority minority populations. This study used measures of academic mindsets, social skills, academic perseverance, learning strategies, and academic performance, with high school students from a mainly Hispanic, low-income school district, to test the structural pathways of a well-known hypothesized model of non-cognitive factors and academic performance proposed by researchers at the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (Farrington et al., 2012). Results support the hypothesized model; however, academic perseverance was not significantly related to academic performance in the context of other non-cognitive factors. Additionally, we found that the model differed based on several group differences including age (e.g., freshman vs senior), socioeconomic status (e.g., parent education, free/reduced priced lunch), and race/ethnicity. Overall, this study confirms that non-cognitive factors have a role to play in students’ academic success and finds that group difference factors are associated with the nature and strength of those relationships.

This study examined how U.S. college students’ career outcome expectations—what they hope to get out of their careers—vary by intended career path, racial/ethnic groups, gender, and other individual difference factors. The data were drawn from the Persistence Research in Science and Engineering (PRiSE) survey, a national study of U.S. college students enrolled in college English courses (n = 7505). An exploratory factor analysis revealed four foci of career outcome expectations, which we labeled as follows: extrinsic (rewards are external, such as money or status), work-life balance (work does not consume all of a person’s time/energy), pioneering (work is intellectually stimulating and cutting edge), and people-related (work involves working with and helping others). While controlling for career interest, our findings indicate that students’ gender and race/ethnicity influence their career outcome expectations in a wide variety of ways. Due to the differences in career outcome expectations associated with student backgrounds and demographics beyond career interest, recruiters and program directors looking to attract more diverse populations may benefit from matching the career outcomes they present and offer with those populations’ outcome expectations.