Department of Special Education and Counselling, Integrated Centre for Wellbeing, The Education University of Hong Kong
Lan Yang
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Education University of Hong Kong
Nino Jose Mateo
Counseling and Educational Psychology Department, De La Salle University
Acknowledgement: This research was funded by the Research Grant Council—Early Career Scheme (ECS Project No. 28611119) awarded to the first author. Note that this study was part of an on-going longitudinal project which aims to explore the longitudinal associations of grit with key learning processes and outcomes in these three settings.
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
There is a growing recognition about the importance of cultivating non-cognitive abilities in school contexts (
Although grit has been associated with a range of positive educational outcomes such as academic achievement (
Thus, TMG (
Drawing from the existing grit frameworks (
This research was a cross-sectional study that investigated cross-cultural differences on TMG dimensions among selected junior secondary school students in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and mainland China and the associations of TMG’s dimensions with overall academic engagement in Math and Science after controlling for the influence of relevant covariates such as the participants’ setting and conscientiousness. Power analysis based on an effect size of 0.17 with reference to meta-analytic review (
The first author secured ethical review approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee of The Education University of Hong Kong. Then, consent letters were distributed to either principal or vice principal of secondary schools in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Philippines. Given the challenging pandemic situations in these contexts, an online link containing the parental consent forms, student consent forms, and survey items was provided to all participants. Approximately, completion of the survey took around 15 min.
Grit
The English (
Academic Engagement in Math and Science
To measure perceived behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement of participants in Math and Science classes, a short version of the Math and Science Engagement Scales (
Conscientiousness
The 5-item conscientiousness subscale of the Big Five Inventory (
As the data had 1.2%–1.9% missing responses, Little’s Missing Completely at Random (MCAR) test was conducted via the 25th version of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to assess the patterns of missing responses. Results indicated that these responses were not missing completely at random χ
Before assessing mean-level differences in perseverance, consistency, and adaptability, test of measurement invariance was conducted. Multi-group CFA via full information maximum likelihood approach was carried out with the three-factor model of grit with perseverance, consistency, and adaptability as dimensions using AMOS. The measurement model had three latent factors, 10 observed indicators (i.e., three indicators each in the perseverance and consistency dimensions and four indicators in the adaptability domain), and 10 errors. Consistent with previous studies’ methodological guidelines (
Given that there is lack of agreement on the best cut-off values for determining measurement invariance and prior research (
To explore the link of TMG dimensions to overall engagement in Math and Science after controlling for the participants’ setting (i.e., Hong Kong, the Philippines, and mainland China) and conscientiousness, we conducted a structural equation modeling using maximum likelihood estimation approach via the 26th version of the Analysis of Moment Structures. Specifically, the structural model had: (a) 4 first-order latent constructs (i.e., TMG dimensions and conscientiousness) with their respective observed indicators and error terms (i.e., 15 indicators and 15 error terms); (b) 2 second-order latent constructs (i.e., Math and Science engagement) with their respective first-order latent constructs (i.e., eight latent constructs per domain of engagement covering cognitive, behavioral, and social dimensions), observed indicators (i.e., 34 indicators), and error terms (i.e., 42 errors); (c) one observed indicator represented setting; and (d) two error terms for overall Math and Science engagement. Given that identical items were used to measure engagement in Math and Science, which could affect the fit of the hypothesized model, we correlated the error terms of all indicators of engagement as well as the error term of the higher-order engagement in Math and Science latent constructs. with reference to acceptable range of fit indices proposed by
Although recent research shows that TMG dimensions (i.e., perseverance and adaptability) relate to well-being outcomes in different societies such as the Philippines, Japan, and Poland (
Before elaborating its theoretical implications, note that this study has limitations. As this research adopted a cross-sectional design, results cannot provide insights on the causal impacts of TMG on engagement in Math and Science. Future research can address this shortcoming via cross-temporal and experimental designs. This study also relied on self-reported measures of TMG and engagement in specific domains, which might be prone to common method bias. In future investigations, it is important to consider alternative approaches in assessing grit and engagement such as other-report format involving teachers and peers. Given the mixed evidence regarding the scalar invariance of TMGS, caution should be observed when interpreting mean-level differences in grit in these cultural settings. Further, as the sample in Hong Kong was drawn from one secondary school, results have limited generalizability to junior secondary school students in Hong Kong. Future research can address this shortcoming via recruiting students from other secondary schools in the said context.
One of the most interesting aspects of the findings point to the cross-cultural differences in all dimensions of grit with students in the Philippines demonstrating the highest scores on perseverance and adaptability. It is likely that both dimensions of grit may be more salient in Filipino sample as these students who were drawn from public schools primarily catering for low-income students, tend to experience more adversities associated with socioeconomic challenges and natural calamities. Exposure to these hardships may provide an opportunity to become resilient, which can explain why the suicidal rate in this setting might be lower compared to mainland China and Hong Kong. Further, students in Hong Kong and mainland China got higher scores than those in the Philippines in consistency. A potential reason that might account for the salience of consistency involves the salience of long-term orientation and achievement-oriented and competitive nature of schooling in both Chinese societies compared to Filipino setting, which underscores the importance of staying on focus in academic-related tasks. However, these speculations require further research as they were not formally evaluated in this study.
Further, this research demonstrated that all TMG dimensions were linked to higher levels of academic engagement in Math and Science even after controlling for the participants’ cultural settings and conscientiousness. These findings mostly corroborate prior studies on the positive correlations of selected TMG dimensions (i.e., perseverance and adaptability) with academic engagement across all subject areas (
This study also points to the most salient role of adaptability in all these settings. These results reinforce extant studies (
Moreover, as the current dataset was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, the results have implications for understanding the role of grit in students’ key academic outcomes in challenging learning contexts. Given that the pandemic situation has resulted in shifting of many secondary schools from face-to-face to pure online teaching arrangements via videoconferencing platforms and other asynchronous media, it is likely that some students may struggle in coping with online academic requirements especially in specific subject areas (e.g., Math, Science, and English). It is therefore critical to pinpoint psychological factors that might protect students against the potential learning-related hazards of this pandemic. For example, a recent investigation (
Generally, this study contributes to existing evidence in school psychological literature regarding the significance of non-cognitive abilities in fostering student success. The findings on the positive associations between TMG dimensions and engagement in Math and Science can serve as a basis for school psychologists or comparable professionals in Hong Kong and mainland China (i.e., educational psychologists) and guidance counselors in the Philippines in designing grit-based psychoeducational interventions to increase students’ active involvement in academic tasks in such academic domains. Further, the results on the most dominant role of adaptability in engagement imply that junior high school students in non-Western societies are likely to benefit from teaching and learning strategies which require demonstration of their capacity to flexibly calibrate pathways to achieve challenging long-term academic and career-related goals. School psychologists or educational psychologists can offer consultation services to teachers and parents regarding evidence-based strategies to boost their children’s persistence in academic-related setbacks.
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Submitted: November 23 , 2020 Revised: March 10 , 2021 Accepted: March 17 , 2021