Carol Dweck Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth and Family

In July 2019, a large randomized controlled trial of growth mindset training by the Education Endowment Foundation involving 101 schools and 5018 pupils across England found that pupils in schools receiving the intervention showed no additional progress in literacy or numeracy relative to pupils in the control group, as measured by the national Key Stage 2 tests in reading, grammar, punctuation, and spelling (GPS), and mathematics.

Dweck was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 2012. She received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association in 2011. On September 19, 2017, the Hong Kong-based Yidan Prize Foundation named Dweck one of two inaugural laureates, to be awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Research, citing her mindset work. The prize includes receipt of approximately US$3.9 million, divided equally between a cash prize and project funding.

In her sixth grade class at the P.S. 153 elementary school in Brooklyn, New York, students were seated in order of their IQ. Students with the highest IQ scores could erase the blackboard, carry the flag, or take a note to the principal’s office. She said in a 2015 interview, “On the one hand, I didn’t believe that a score on a test was that important; on the other hand, every student wants to succeed in the framework that’s established. So looking back, I think that glorification of IQ was a pivotal point of my development.”

Other education and psychology researchers worry that “mindset” has simply become another aspect to be assessed and graded in children. Matt O’Leary, an education lecturer at Birmingham City University, tweeted that it was “farcical” that his six-year-old daughter was being graded on her attitude towards learning. David James, professor of social sciences at Cardiff University and editor of the British Journal of Sociology of Education, says “it’s great to dwell on the fact that intelligence is not fundamentally genetic and unchangeable”, but he believes the limitations of mindset outweigh its uses. “It individualises the failure – ‘they couldn’t change the way they think, so that’s why they failed’.” James notes that a study in 2013 showed no statistically significant effect of mindset theory.

Her key contribution to social psychology relates to implicit theories of intelligence, described in her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. According to Dweck, individuals can be placed on a continuum according to their implicit views of where ability comes from. Some believe their success is based on innate ability; these are said to have a “fixed” theory of intelligence (fixed mindset). Others, who believe their success is based on hard work, learning, training and doggedness are said to have a “growth” or an “incremental” theory of intelligence (growth mindset). Individuals may not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, but their mindset can still be discerned based on their behavior. It is especially evident in their reaction to failure. Fixed-mindset individuals dread failure because it is a negative statement on their basic abilities, while growth mindset individuals don’t mind or fear failure as much because they realize their performance can be improved and learning comes from failure. These two mindsets play an important role in all aspects of a person’s life. Dweck argues that the growth mindset will allow a person to live a less stressful and more successful life. Dweck’s definition of fixed and growth mindsets from a 2012 interview:

Dweck has held the position of Professor of Psychology at Stanford University since 2004, teaching developmental psychology, self theories, and independent studies. In 2017, she stated “I am now developing a broad theory that puts motivation and the formation of mindsets (or beliefs) at the heart of social and personality development.” Later that year she published the theory in a paper titled “From needs to goals and representations: Foundations for a unified theory of motivation, personality, and development.”

Dweck’s first job after graduating was at the University of Illinois (1972–1981). She then joined Harvard’s Laboratory of Human Development (1981–1985), returning to Illinois as a full professor (1985–1989). She moved to Columbia University as the William B. Ransford Professor of Psychology in 1989. Since 2004 she has been the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University.

She graduated from Barnard College in 1967 and earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University in 1972.

Carol Susan Dweck (born October 17, 1946) is an American psychologist. She is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck is known for her work on motivation and mindset. She was on the faculty at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of Illinois before joining the Stanford University faculty in 2004. She is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.