Evaluating the Relationship between Grit and Mathematics Academic Achievement among Senior High School Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37251/ijoer.v7i3.2844Keywords:
Academic Achievement, Achievement, Grit, MathematicsAbstract
Purpose of the study: This study aimed to assess the grit level of senior high school students in a Philippine high school and to analyze its relationship with their academic achievement in Mathematics.
Methodology: This study employed a quantitative descriptive-correlational research design. Data were gathered from Grade 12 students in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Philippines. The “Grit-S” Scale (Duckworth & Quin, 2009) was utilized with its reliability tested using Cronbach’s alpha (0.754). Sample size of 225 students was determined through Cochran’s formula. Data were treated using weighted mean and Pearson’s Product Moment of Correlation.
Main Findings: Students exhibited moderate levels of grit (overall x̅ = 3.20) and very satisfactory mathematics achievement (x̅ = 85). Using Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation, a weak but statistically significant positive relationship was found between grit and mathematics academic achievement (r = 0.20, p < 0.01), indicating that grit has a limited but measurable association with students’ performance.
Novelty/Originality of this study: This study is among the first to investigate grit as a non-cognitive factor influencing Mathematics achievement in the Philippine senior high school context. By localizing the application of the Grit-S scale, it expands global research to a new cultural setting and highlights the role of perseverance in shaping academic outcomes, offering evidence-based insights for curriculum and instructional improvement.
References
S. Shakuntala, Mathability: Awaken the Math Genius in Your Child. New Delhi, India: Orient Paperbacks, 2003.
S. Shanker, “Why does my child hate math? Part 2,” Psychology Today, 2017.
M. H. Ashcraft, “Math anxiety: Personal, educational and cognitive consequences,” Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 181–185, 2002.
X. Ma, “A meta-analysis of the relationship between anxiety toward mathematics and achievement in mathematics,” Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 520–540, 1999.
R. Hembree, “The nature, effects, and relief of mathematics anxiety,” Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 33–46, 1990.
P. Y. Foong, “Anxiety and mathematics performance in female secondary school students in Singapore,” Asia Pacific Journal of Education, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 22–31, 1987.
J. D. Bransford, A. L. Brown, and R. R. Cocking, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC, USA: National Academy Press, 2000.
D. L. Ball, “With an eye on the mathematical horizon,” Elementary School Journal, vol. 93, no. 4, pp. 373–397, 1993.
A. S. Rosebery, B. Warren, and F. R. Conant, “Approaching scientific discourse,” Journal of the Learning Sciences, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 61–94, 1992.
F. Geijsel and F. Meijers, “Identity learning: The core process of educational change,” Educational Studies, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 419–430, 2005.
L. Stankov and J. Lee, “Quest for the best non-cognitive predictor of academic achievement,” Educational Psychology, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 1–8, 2014.
L. F. Barrett, “What counts as non-cognitive?” Behavioral Ecology, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 1293–1294, 2014.
A. L. Duckworth, C. Peterson, M. D. Matthews, and D. R. Kelly, “Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 92, no. 6, pp. 1087–1101, 2007.
T. Bidjerano and D. Y. Dai, “The relationship between the Big Five model of personality and self-regulated learning strategies,” Learning and Individual Differences, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 69–81, 2007.
P. Tough, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. New York, NY, USA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012.
S. B. Robbins et al., “Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis,” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 130, no. 2, pp. 261–288, 2004.
C. A. Wolters and M. Hussain, “Investigating grit and its relations with college students’ self-regulated learning and academic achievement,” Metacognition and Learning, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 293–311, 2015.
M. Credé, M. C. Tynan, and P. D. Harms, “Much ado about grit: A meta-analytic synthesis of the grit literature,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 113, no. 3, pp. 492–511, 2017.
B. Goodwin and K. Miller, “Grit plus talent equals student success,” Educational Leadership, vol. 71, no. 1, pp. 74–76, 2013.
B. Hodge, B. Wright, and P. Bennett, “The role of grit in determining engagement and academic outcomes for university students,” Research in Higher Education, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 448–460, 2018.
H. Daeezadeh, A. Homayouni, B. Hosseinzadeh, and H. Fakorihajiyar, “Investigation of the role of personality traits in learning mathematics and academic achievement in students of distance education system,” 2014.
A. Caliao, “Factors associated with the ability of Grade VI pupils to solve problems in mathematics,” Unpublished master’s thesis, Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines, 2000.
T. Montecalvo, “Problem solving skills in fractions, decimals and percentage,” Unpublished master’s thesis, Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines, 2000.
B. Acharya, “Factors affecting difficulties in learning mathematics,” International Journal of Elementary Education, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 8–15, 2017.
G. Anthony and M. Walshaw, “Characteristics of effective teaching of mathematics: A view from the West,” Journal of Mathematics Education, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 147–164, 2009.
Department of Education, Guidelines on the Assessment and Rating of Learning Outcomes under the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum, DepEd Order No. 73, s. 2012.
S. Cassidy, “Exploring individual differences as determining factors in student academic achievement,” Studies in Higher Education, vol. 37, no. 7, pp. 793–810, 2012.
Department of Education, Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic Education Program, DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015.
A. L. Duckworth and D. S. Yeager, “Measurement matters: Assessing personal qualities other than cognitive ability for educational purposes,” Educational Researcher, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 237–251, 2015.
J. W. Creswell and J. D. Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: SAGE Publications, 2018.
L. Cohen, L. Manion, and K. Morrison, Research Methods in Education, 8th ed. London, U.K.: Routledge, 2018.
W. G. Cochran, Sampling Techniques, 3rd ed. New York, NY, USA: Wiley, 1977.
A. L. Duckworth and P. D. Quinn, “Development and validation of the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S),” Journal of Personality Assessment, vol. 91, no. 2, pp. 166–174, 2009.
L. J. Cronbach, “Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests,” Psychometrika, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 297–334, 1951.
American Psychological Association, Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Washington, DC, USA: American Psychological Association, 2017.
J. Pallant, SPSS Survival Manual: A Step-by-Step Guide to Data Analysis Using IBM SPSS, 6th ed. Maidenhead, U.K.: McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
C. Henry and G. P. Smith, “Planning student success and persistence: Implementing a strategy,” Community College Review, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 26–36, 1994.
R. Ayres, E. Cooley, and C. Dunn, “Self-concept, attribution, and persistence in learning disabled students,” Journal of School Psychology, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 153–163, 1990.
J. K. Torgesen and B. G. Licht, The Learning Disabled Child as an Active Learner: Retrospect and Prospects. Norwood, NJ, USA: Ablex Publishing, 1983.
M. L. Griffin et al., “Grit in patients with substance use disorders,” The American Journal on Addictions, vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 652–658, 2016.
C. Cupitt and N. Golshan, “Participation in higher education online: Demographics, motivators, and grit,” presented at the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia Conference, Adelaide, Australia, 2015.
C. S. Kannangara et al., “All that glitters is not grit: Three studies of grit in university students,” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 9, art. no. 1539, 2018.
A. Medes, “Assessment and rating of learning outcomes for elementary schools,” unpublished manuscript, 2009.
N. Capate and M. Lapinid, “Assessing the mathematics performance of Grade 8 students as basis for enhancing instruction and aligning with K to 12 curriculum,” unpublished research report, 2015.
A. D. Patena and B. L. Dinglasan, “Students’ performance on mathematics departmental examination: Basis for math intervention program,” Asian Academic Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, vol. 1, no. 14, pp. 255–268, 2013.
T. Tambychik and T. S. M. Meerah, “Students’ difficulties in mathematics problem solving: What do they say?” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 8, pp. 142–151, 2010.
R. Dubey, “Trait perseverance: Gender differences and educational achievement,” Perspectives in Psychological Research, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 15–18, 1982.
M. Al Mutawah and M. Fateel, “Students’ achievement in math and science: How grit and attitudes influence?” International Education Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 97–105, 2018.
K. Rimfeld, Y. Kovas, P. S. Dale, and R. Plomin, “True grit and genetics: Predicting academic achievement from personality,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 111, no. 5, pp. 780–789, 2016.
K. Flanagan and J. Einarson, “Gender, math confidence, and grit: Relationships with quantitative skills and performance in an undergraduate biology course,” presented at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research Conference, 2017.
B. Jaeger et al., “Successful students: Smart or tough?” presented at the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Louisville, KY, USA, Jun. 2010.
P. Bazelais, D. J. Lemay, and T. Doleck, “How does grit impact students’ academic achievement in science?” European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 33–43, 2016.
W. Chang, “Grit and academic performance: Is being grittier better?” Ph.D. dissertation, Open Access Dissertations, Paper 266, 2014.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Joan B Mariano
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and acknowledge that the Indonesian Journal of Education Research (IJoER) is the first publisher licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and greater citation of published work.
.png)
.png)
