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Given the various contexts the young woman was talking about I'd agree grit is a key determinant.
1). Forgive any perceived parental gloating. My son is a neurosurgery resident (PGY-2) at a very tippy top program. No amount of grit gets someone of normal intelligence where he is.
2). And still dividing first world humans into quintiles:
The bottom quintile has all of the lowest avg. income, lowest avg. educational attainment and lowest avg. IQ.
The next quintile has the second lowest avg. income, educational attainment and IQ
The next quintile has the third lowest avg. income, educational attainment and IQ
The next quintile has the fourth lowest avg. income, educational attainment and IQ
The next quintile has the highest avg. income, educational attainment and IQ
Grit may be part of a brain developmental stage. A stage that, perhaps, some people never develop. Through my teens I did not have grit. That part my personality developed later.
My son was very successful in school without grit. He did not do homework or take his schoolwork seriously and sailed through every class effortlessly. That became problematic for him at his first attempt at college when he actually had to work and maintain attendance. And no amount of consequences were effective when he was young. He now has grit and works very hard. Like me he developed it late.
My daughter came out of my womb with grit. I never taught her, she just has always been that way.
Wow. This is pretty much useless, if she doesn't share what the measures of "grit" are!!
She says they were able to measure grit through questionnaires, and found the grittiest kids were the ones who succeeded.
HELLO?? What is a concrete way, through a questionnaire, to measure grit?
"Passion, perseverance, and stamina" she said, were her definitions of "grit". I don't think anyone in my school had "passion", but they all graduated. I'd say discipline is one of the most important factors. She did say that "grit" was especially important for disadvantaged kids. That makes a little more sense, in terms of having the motivation to succeed against all odds.
"Passion, perseverance, and stamina" she said, were her definitions of "grit". I don't think anyone in my school had "passion", but they all graduated. I'd say discipline is one of the most important factors. She did say that "grit" was especially important for disadvantaged kids. That makes a little more sense, in terms of having the motivation to succeed against all odds.
And here's the thing. Many disadvantaged kids have zero, or very little, encouragement from outside. Schools have them for 6 or 7 hours a day, feed them a couple meals, and then they go back to their dysfunctional home environment.
I'll even go further and say the generally middle/upper middle class kids I taught were much the same. Even at that level there was little parental support for many of them. And no, or rather Hell no, it wasn't because the parents were working two or three jobs. It was because too many parents wanted to live their own lives and put their kids on autopilot.
And here's the thing. Many disadvantaged kids have zero, or very little, encouragement from outside. Schools have them for 6 or 7 hours a day, feed them a couple meals, and then they go back to their dysfunctional home environment.
I'll even go further and say the generally middle/upper middle class kids I taught were much the same. Even at that level there was little parental support for many of them. And no, or rather Hell no, it wasn't because the parents were working two or three jobs. It was because too many parents wanted to live their own lives and put their kids on autopilot.
I was thinking this, too. Discipline, and parental support, clear parental expectations, are key, but there needs to be a good bond between the parents and the kids, so the kids won't just blow off their parents' expectations. I have a friend who probably should have been in a gifted program in school, but who only bothered to study for the courses that interested him. This, despite brilliant parents who expected him to succeed. IMO it means there was something wrong in the family unit, to account for the disregard for the parents' education values. The "autopilot" phenom wasn't the case here, but I've definitely seen that.
Some kids are a sponge for everything they ingest, and require little to no studying to ace all classes.
Some kids are a sponge for selective subjects they're interested in, "history buffs" and "math whizzes".
Some kids cannot retain new material that is not relevant to their immediate well-being and do not understand preparing themselves for something in the future. The work->reward association was broken since childhood and is missing due to either parenting or lack thereof.
Bad habits developed and not curtailed in the developmental years are difficult to break later in life without constant monitoring and motivation or a traumatic experience. Neither of which are ideal in either conservation of resources (literally a lifetime parent or mentor to keep this person on track) or feasibility (spending X amount of resources in trial-and-error to find out how to "reach" an unmotivated person).
Yes, it's possible that a family of successful children will also include a Rosemary Kennedy of the bunch. These individuals often outwardly rebel and do so via action, not inaction. There is no such thing as introverted rebellion. The lack of motivation and lethargy are present in children who were not engaged socially.
It's also possible that someone from a broken home becomes a billionaire. This is often done by rebellion via action. Leaving their dire circumstances as quickly as they can. Vowing never to live like that again. An active desire and survival instinct to avoid an abusive or neglectful environment keeps them moving forward.
Certain pairings of personalities and parenting bring you these diverse outcomes.
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