From a learning culture perspective, these are the keys for student success in higher education:
- Learning culture
- Self-sabotage
- Personal challenges
Personal challenges – the majority of students, especially underprivileged students, are very real, i.e., they must balance academics and life, which may bring any number of personal challenges, and the level of each challenge can greatly vary from not very difficult to very difficult. Beyond challenges involving academic preparation and financial need, personal challenges may include family responsibilities, food and housing insecurities, and physical and mental health issues. Unfortunately, unless personal challenges are overcome, or sufficiently addressed, then they can easily overwhelm the academics, especially when the challenges are out of control. When this happens, the correct course of action is for the student to take a break from school, then return when the challenge(s) has been brought under control.
Self-sabotage – student success must begin with a personal commitment to succeed. This includes choosing to accept responsibility, take action, and seek solutions when facing any challenge, i.e., choose to act like a creator, which leads to success! The alternative is to choose to blame, complain, and make excuses, i.e., choose to self-sabotage, which leads to failure. The choice between being a creator or a self-saboteur is very important, and only creators can be committed to succeed. However, unaware of the importance of this choice, the majority of students easily flip between the two roles in different situations, while others habitually choose the self-saboteur role because this behavior has been modeled for them in their social circles, and even in their home environment. Moreover, intentionally changing from the self-saboteur to creator role may be very difficult for these students, and it may require counseling support.
Here are the top five ways in which students sabotage themselves:
- Commitment: Creator vs. Self-saboteur
- Self-advocacy
- Proactive (vs. Procrastinator)
- Time management
- Accountability
These are important elements for student success. If any of these are gaps for any student, then they are self-sabotaging and likely to fail.
Learning culture – a culture for learning exists in every institution of higher education, including having a mindset for learning (Figure 1), and knowing how to approach the learning (Figure 2), with having a mindset for learning being the larger and more important part. Students are expected to know and apply the learning culture to succeed; however, it is also the hidden curriculum, which means that the majority of students, especially first-generation college students, are not aware of it when they begin their college studies.
While it is true that all students have many strengths and great potential, they also have gaps. The challenge for students in higher education is to learn the learning culture and use it to fill their gaps to create their own success and achieve their goals! When students have a low GPA, fail classes or drop out of college, a key reason for this is that they have gaps, and they have not been trained in the learning culture. It doesn’t mean they do not have strengths or cannot succeed in college.
Figure 1. Learning Culture: Having a Mindset for Learning
Figure 2. Learning Culture: Knowing How to Approach the Learning
Scenario #1 The Perfect Storm – Prediction: Failure
A student is highly likely to fail when their personal challenges are not overcome or sufficiently addressed; they choose to self-sabotage, and they’re in the dark with regards to the learning culture.
Scenario #2 The Winning Combination – Prediction: Success!
In contrast, a student is highly likely to succeed when their personal challenges are overcome or sufficiently addressed; they do not self-sabotage, and they own and apply the learning culture to take control of their learning to create their own success.