Mindset Messaging: Fostering Student Support and Confidence through Micro-Messaging in Advisor Communication

Abstract

As academic advisors help students navigate academic challenges toward a degree, seemingly mundane interactions have the potential to shape students' beliefs about themselves and their abilities. This study examines whether subtle cues within messages from advisors may help students develop what Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset—the belief that ability is malleable through effort, strategy, and help-seeking—and lead to greater perceived support from advisors and student confidence. Drawing on focus groups and interviews with twenty undergraduate students at a large public university, this study offers empirical support for the positive impact that growth mindset language can have within advisor-student communication, as well as a set of practical recommendations for bringing these insights to day-to-day advising practice.