Carol Susan Dweck was born on October 17, 1946. She is an American psychologist who holds the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professorship of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck is known for her research on motivation and mindset. She taught at the University of Illinois, Harvard University, and Columbia University before joining the Stanford University faculty in 2004. In 2013, she received the Association for Psychological Science (APS) James McKeen Cattell Fellowship. In 2019, she was honored as an APS Mentor Awardee, and in 2020, she became an APS William James Fellow. She has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2012.

Early life and education

Carol Dweck was born in New York. Her father worked in the export-import business, and her mother worked in advertising. She was the only daughter and the middle sibling of three children.

In her sixth grade class at P.S. 153 elementary school in Brooklyn, New York, students were seated in order of their IQ. Some responsibilities, such as erasing the blackboard and carrying the flag, were reserved for students with the highest IQs. She later described becoming increasingly afraid of risking her reputation as one of the most intelligent children in the class, which led her to avoid participating in a spelling bee and a French competition.

She graduated from Barnard College in 1967 and earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University in 1972.

Career and research

After earning her PhD, Dweck became a teacher at the University of Illinois, eventually becoming an associate professor. In 1981, she worked as a professor at Harvard's Laboratory of Human Development, then returned to the University of Illinois in 1985. In 1989, she joined the faculty of Columbia University, and in 2004, she became a professor of psychology at Stanford University.

Dweck's research focuses on mindset and motivation.

Her key contribution to social psychology involves the concept of implicit theories of intelligence and personality, which she introduced in a 1988 paper. In academic writing, the term "implicit theories" is often used interchangeably with "implicit beliefs," "self-theories," or "mindsets." Dweck defines these as "core assumptions about the changeability of personal qualities." She later explained this idea in her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

According to Dweck, people can be placed on a scale based on their beliefs about where ability comes from. Those who believe success depends on innate ability have a "fixed" theory of intelligence (fixed mindset), while those who believe success comes from effort, learning, and persistence have a "growth" or "incremental" theory of intelligence (growth mindset). In 2012, Dweck described these ideas in an interview.

Dweck explains that people may not always know their own mindset, but their mindset can be identified through their behavior, especially how they react to failure. She says fixed-mindset individuals fear failure because it challenges their basic abilities, while growth-mindset individuals see failure as a chance to learn and improve. Dweck argues that these mindsets influence many areas of life and that a growth mindset helps people live with less stress and more success.

Dweck clarifies that a growth mindset is not only about effort. She notes a common misunderstanding is that it is "just about effort." She explains that the growth mindset aims to help close achievement gaps by addressing a student's current abilities and working to improve them.

Dweck warns that praising intelligence can lead children to develop a fixed mindset, making them avoid challenges to avoid looking foolish. She states, "Praising children's intelligence harms motivation and performance." She advises parents to teach children to embrace challenges, learn from mistakes, and enjoy effort. This helps children build confidence without relying on praise.

In 2017, Dweck said she was developing a theory that connects motivation, mindset, and personality development. She published this theory in a paper titled From Needs to Goals and Representations: Foundations for a Unified Theory of Motivation, Personality, and Development.

Dweck's work has been published in journals such as Psychological Science and Nature, with research teams led by her.

Some critics have said her research is hard to repeat. For example, a 2017 article by Toby Young, an editor at The Spectator, questioned the reliability of her findings. Nick Brown, who created the GRIM statistical test, pointed out that some data from a 1998 study was "impossible" to reproduce. He found errors in the study's data, which Dweck acknowledged. Brown praised Dweck for addressing the issues openly.

Other researchers have raised concerns that "mindset" is now being treated as a measurable trait in children. Matt O'Leary, an education lecturer, criticized the idea of grading children's attitudes toward learning. David James, a professor of social sciences, says while it is important to recognize that intelligence is not fixed, the limitations of mindset theory may outweigh its benefits. He notes a 2013 study found no significant effect from mindset training.

In 2019, a large study by the Education Endowment Foundation in England tested growth mindset training in 101 schools with 5,018 students. The results showed no improvement in literacy or math skills compared to students who did not receive the training. These findings were based on national tests in reading, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and math.

Awards and recognition

In 2002, Dweck was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2011, she received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (APA). In 2012, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In 2013, she was named an Association for Psychological Science (APS) James McKeen Cattell Fellow. On September 19, 2017, the Hong Kong-based Yidan Prize Foundation named Dweck one of two first-time winners of the Yidan Prize for Education Research. The prize included about US$3.9 million, split evenly between a cash prize and funding for projects. In 2019, she received an APS Mentor Award. In 2020, she was named an APS William James Fellow.

Selected publications

• Dweck, Carol S.; Leggett, Ellen L. (April 1988). "A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality". Psychological Review. 95 (2): 256–273. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256. ISSN 1939-1471.
• Dweck, C. S.; Chiu, C. Y.; Hong, Y. Y. (1995). "Implicit Theories: Elaboration and Extension of the Model". Psychological Inquiry. 6 (4): 322–333. doi: 10.1207/s15327965pli0604_12. hdl: 10722/44537.
• Blackwell, Lisa S.; Trzesniewski, Kali H.; Dweck, Carol Sorich (February 2007). "Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention". Child Development. 78 (1): 246–263. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00995.x. ISSN 0009-3920. PMID 17328703.

• Heckhausen, Jutta; Dweck, Carol S., eds. (1998). Motivation and Self-Regulation Across the Life Span. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521591767. OCLC 37801327.
• Dweck, Carol S. (2000). Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis -Psychology Press. ISBN 1841690244. OCLC 44401375.
• Dweck, Carol S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 1400062756. OCLC 58546262. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
• Elliot, Andrew J.; Dweck, Carol S., eds. (2007). Handbook of Competence and Motivation (Pbk. ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press. ISBN 9781593856069. OCLC 163810853.
• Dweck, Carol S. (2012). Mindset: How You Can Fulfill Your Potential. London, England: Constable & Robinson. ISBN 9781780332000. OCLC 757931861.

Personal life

Dweck is married to David Goldman, who is a national theatre director and critic and the founder and director of the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University.