Measurement of Grit and Correlation to Student Pharmacist Academic Performance

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Pharmacy Education

Background:

• Grittiness, a combination of passion and perseverance for long-term goals, is increasingly recognized as a factor in academic achievement.
• Understanding the role of grittiness in the demanding field of pharmacy education is crucial for student success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the level of grittiness among pharmacy students across three institutions.
• To investigate the association between grittiness and academic performance indicators in pharmacy students.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving pharmacy students from three schools.
• Utilized an electronic questionnaire incorporating the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) to measure grittiness.
• Employed logistic regression to analyze the relationship between grit scores and academic performance metrics.

Main Results:

• A higher Grit-S total score was a significant predictor of achieving a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
• Consistency of Interest (COI) and Perseverance of Effort (POE) subscale scores were notably higher in students with GPAs ≥3.5 compared to those with GPAs of 3.0-3.49.
• Students with lower GPAs (D or F, or <3.0) exhibited lower average Grit-S total scores and COI/POE domain scores.

Conclusions:

• Grittiness appears to be associated with academic performance in student pharmacists.
• The Grit-S Scale demonstrates potential utility for assessment and intervention within pharmacy programs to support student success.