Study success@RSM Dr. Michaéla Schippers

DEPARTMENT TECHNOLOGY & OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

IKIGAI - GOAL-SETTING

People with a strong sense of purpose have:

- Boosted immune systems

- Lower stress hormones

And:

Are able to grapple with the difficulties of life

Live longer

• Nowadays more attention to life goals

• goal-setting seen an important skill

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/longevity/1108/daily_vid.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GkJ3xARKXo

INTERVENTIONS AT ROTTERDAM SCHOOL

OF MANAGEMENT

Study choice meetings (SCM; 2009-)

Goal-setting online program (GS; 2011-)

Team charter (2012-)

Measuring the effect of the interventions

The problem

• High drop-out rates (around 50% !)

• Large differences in performance

Causes:

- Many students are not sure what their goals are,

or have not made a deliberate choice

- Motivation low, and also study performance

Individuals with clear goals are more able to direct

attention and effort toward goal-relevant activities

Goal-setting intervention introduced at RSM

EVIDENCE – BASED PERSONAL GOAL SETTING

Morisano, D., Hirsh J.B., Peterson, J.B., Pihl, R.O., & Shore, B. (2010) ‘Setting, elaborating

and reflecting on personal goals improves academic performance’, Journal of Applied

Psychology, 95, 225-264.

GOAL-SETTING INTERVENTION

Online computerized goal-setting program

Part 1

• Guided writing about the future:

– Habits

– Learning

– Social life

– Leisure

– Family

– Career

• Describe ideal future life versus

the life you want to avoid

• Define 6-8 main goals

Part 2

• Describe future plan

• Specifying, clarifying, defining and

prioritizing 6-8 specific goals

• Back-up plans, goal-monitoring

Part 3: I WILL statement

Grant, A. M., Franklin, J., & Langford, P. (2002). The Self-Reflection and Insight Scale: A new measure of private self-consciousness. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal

RELATION BETWEEN GOAL-SETTING AND RESULTS First year students 2011-2012

Does this cohort

(BA 1, 2011/2012

703 students)

Do better than cohorts

from earlier years?

MAIN FINDINGS

Overall the academic performance of the

intervention cohort improved by ~ 20%

Both for credits (21 %)

and retention rate (22%)

Gender gap closes by 98%

Ethnicity gap closes by 38% (and by 93% after the second academic year)

Differences in Number of Credits and Retention Rate between the

Pre-Intervention and Intervention Cohorts

Cohort

N

Mean # of credits

year 1

Retention rate

year 1

Pre-intervention cohort 1 810 32.20 52.2%

Pre-intervention cohort 2 707 32.68 51.1%

Intervention cohort 1 698 38.20 66.6%

Intervention cohort 2 711 40.70 59.5%

Note: In intervention cohort 1 the requirement was min 40 credits

In int. cohort 2 this was 60 credits (= full course load).

Increase men:

35.9%

Gender gap

closes: 98.3%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

control cohort 1 control cohort 2 control cohort 3 interventioncohort

Retention rate after the first academic year by gender

female

male

GOALSETTING

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

control cohort 1 control cohort 2 control cohort 3 interventioncohort

Retention rate after the first academic year by ethnicity

GOALSETTING

Majority

Ethnic minority

Increase

minority: 68,42%

Ethnicity gap

closes: 37,88%

GOALSETTING

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

control cohort 1 control cohort 2 control cohort 3 intervention cohort

Retention rate after the first academic year by gender, ethnicity and cohort

Majority female

Majority male

Minority female

Minority male

RELATION BETWEEN GOAL-SETTING AND

OUTCOMES

Is there an effect of Goal setting/I WILL?

Do students that participate earn more

ECTS?

More direct test

Effect goal-setting/ I WILL

Do more motivated students participate?

More conscientious students?

Mediated by behavior (exam participation)?

Is there an effect of goal-setting over and above these alternative explanations?

Control variables first year students 2012-2013

• Age, gender

• Registration date

• Big five: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness,

Agreeableness, Extraversion, Neurioticism

• Core self-evaluations

• Need for cognition

# ECTS PARTICIPATION GOAL-SETTING/I WILL (2012/2013)

12

15

29

42

44

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

not participated participated inone part

participated intwo parts

full participation full participationand SCM

SCM = study choice meetings

Difference:

31 ECTS

MORE FULL MODEL, REGRESSION ANALYSIS FIRST YEAR STUDENTS 2012-2013

Participation in exams

Study success

Retention

Goal-setting/I Will

Study-choice meetings

Controlling for age,

gender, registration

date and personality

Goal setting

Nr. of credits β = .44***

Retention rate β = .45***

Number of words and

strategies/obstacles

explained additional variance

How well they described Strategies and

Obstacles explained additional variance

Content analysis

On average, students wrote 3,000 words

This was highly related to number of

words written

Kind of goal (academic or not academic)

was unrelated to study succes

CONTENT ANALYSIS: STRATEGIES & OBSTACLES

Four categories

• Number of strategies

• How general/specific the strategies are

• Number of obstacles

• How general/specific the obstacle solutions are

Four categories combined into one single Strategies/Obstacles variable

Essays rated by a team of student assistants

• Two assistants rated cohort 2011-2012

• Two assistants rated cohort 2012-2013

• Compared differences and reached consensus

Scale for Number of…

0 = empty essay

1 = written something, but no strategy/obstacle

2 = 1 strategy or obstacle

3 = 2 strategies or obstacles

4 = 3 strategies or obstacles

… and so on

Strategy Example

Obstacle Example

Conclusions so far

• The online intervention was effective in

enhancing academic achievement and retention

for a full cohort of students

• Especially effective for students that fully

participated, and for men and ethnic minorities

• Academic institutions should consider using

the goal-setting intervention as part of their

curriculum

Also in terms of ROI

NEW: THE IVIE APP

• Developed for high school students (16 – 17 years old)

• Guides you in imagining your ideal

• Used for the first time by RISS

FUTURE ADDITIONS TO GOAL-SETTING

• Online element

Support network

– Connect with others who have same goals

and/or same past/present experiences

– Achievements for reaching goals – collect gear,

fill online room

Ongoing journaling of significant events

PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES & SCHOOLS

University of Amsterdam

• 2015 – 2016

• 1,300 students

RSM

• From 2011 until now

• 3,000+ students total

• 700 students this year

Wolfert Tweetalig

• 2014 – 2015

• 40 students

Wolfert RISS

• 2014 – 2015

• 45 students

INTERESTED UNIVERSITIES & SCHOOLS

University of Essex

• Spoke about implementation

• Interested to pick it up in 2016

• 800 students

University of Madrid

• First ideas exchanged

• Interested to pick it up in 2016

• 600 students

Hogeschool Rotterdam

• Interested to pick it up in Jan 2016

• 150 students (possibly more)

University of Cologne

• Vice dean interested in

implementing

• First ideas exchanged

• 1,000 students

Erasmus School of Law

• Interested to pick it up in 2016?

• 600 students

References

Schippers, M. C., & Scheepers, A. W. & Peterson, J. B. (2015). A scalable

goal-setting intervention closes both the gender and minority achievement

gap. Palgrave Communications 1:15014. doi: 10.1057/palcomms.2015.14

Schippers, M. C., Scheepers, A., Morisano, D. & Locke, E. L. &

Peterson, J. B. (2014) Enhancing student retention and academic

performance: the effects of guided reflection on goals. Working paper

CONTACT STUDY SUCCESS

Dr .Michaéla Schippers

Department of Technology & Operations Management

Rotterdam School of Management

Erasmus University

Burg. Oudlaan 50, Room T9-50

3062 PA Rotterdam

The Netherlands |Tel +31 (0)10 408 1892

e-mail: mschippers@rsm.nl | www.rsm.nl

studysuccess@rsm.nl