Building a Growth Mindset Culture in Higher Education

VUCA, short for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous, is more than a trendy managerial acronym. In a VUCA era characterized by rapid technological change, shifting employment needs, and global instability, higher education must go beyond content delivery to cultivate the long-term capacity to learn, adapt, and grow. One of the most compelling paradigms influencing this change is the growth mindset - a belief that intelligence and skill can be enhanced with hard work, intelligent strategies, and input from others.

The growth mindset, which was made famous by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, contrasts fixed mindset, which sees intelligence and talent as unchanging traits. The concept of growth mindset has significant implications for education, despite its seeming simplicity. Students are more likely to take on challenges, bounce back from failures, and get involved in their learning when they think they can grow. Therefore, teachers and trainers need to not only embrace this approach of imparting knowledge and skills, but also make it a part of the core values of teaching and learning.

Beyond Buzzwords: Cultivating the Right Environment

A growth mindset goes beyond just telling kids to "try harder" or appreciating them for their effort without giving them any context. A comprehensive and ongoing transformation in curriculum design, feedback delivery, and success definition is necessary. In higher education, this starts with creating environments that encourage students to take intellectual risks, where mistakes are seen as a normal part of learning, and feedback is offered as a means of progress rather than as a form of judgement. Faculty and academic leaders must exemplify this approach by sharing their learning journeys — including failures and revisions — thereby, humanizing the learning process. When trainers approach their sessions as co-learners rather than infallible experts, they signal to participants that growth is a continuous and collaborative process.

Reframing Failure and Redefining Success

How institutes and institutions deal with failure is an important part of creating a culture of growth mindset. Conventional grading systems, competitive evaluations, and high-stakes examinations frequently incentivise perfection while penalising experimentation. A growth-oriented approach prioritises process over performance. This doesn’t mean lowering standards, but rather shifting focus to how students reach outcomes — their strategies, perseverance, and adaptability.

There are many ways to reinforce this way of thinking in school, such as formative assessments, peer learning, reflective journaling, and project-based learning. These methods encourage learners to iterate, learn from feedback, and build confidence in their ability to improve.

The Role of Trainers and Faculty

For faculty and trainers, cultivating a growth mindset necessitates purposeful use of language, setting clear expectations, and providing constructive feedback. Phrases like “You’re not there yet” instead of “You’re wrong,” or “What strategy did you try?” instead of “That didn’t work,” make a significant difference in how learners perceive their abilities. Moreover, trainers can help learners reframe their internal narratives. Many adult learners carry the weight of past academic failures or limiting beliefs. Helping them unlearn these and see themselves as capable of change can be transformative — not just in the classroom, but in their lives.

Leadership and Policy Support

Institutional leadership plays a key role in embedding a growth mindset at scale. Policies that support academic resilience — such as allowing assignment revisions, encouraging mentorship programs, or rewarding pedagogical innovation — signal to both students and staff that willingness and efforts to grow are valued over innate ability. Professional development for faculty and academic staff should also include training on growth mindset principles, not as a one-off workshop, but as part of a broader commitment to people development and inclusive education.

Toward a Culture of Lifelong Learning

Ultimately, cultivating a growth mindset culture in higher education is more than improving academic performance. It pertains to equipping individuals for a lifetime of learning, adaptation, and contribution. It provides learners with knowledge and instils the conviction that they can advance that knowledge - an essential quality in a VUCA world where change alone is constant. By adopting and advocating for growth mindset ideas, institutions can evolve into not just centres of learning, but of transformation. Doing so allows them to achieve their greatest goal: enabling people grow and evolve.

(This article is written by Dr. Nagalakshmi M.V.N., Assistant Professor at Paari School of Business, SRM University, AP. This is an opinionated article; EPN has nothing to do with this editorial.)