Fri., July 10, 2026: AGI Seminar “Heterogeneous Effects of Growth Mindset Interventions in Middle Schools” (online)

We invite researchers who are engaged in research on Asia and hold AGI Seminars. We look forward to your participation!

*This seminar will be online and free of charge.

*Please refer to the following for details.

Date and Time

Friday, July 10, 2026 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
*A question-and-answer session is scheduled after the presentation.

Presenter

Ryuichi Tanaka, Professor, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo; and Visiting Professor, AGI

Title

Heterogeneous Effects of Growth Mindset Interventions in Middle Schools (with Hiroki Takehashi, Keita Suzuki)

Abstract

This paper studies a randomized field intervention designed to promote a growth mindset among seventh-grade students in middle schools in a large Japanese city. In collaboration with the local education board, four middle schools were selected and stratified by initial academic performance; one school in each stratum was randomly assigned to a growth-mindset lesson, while the comparison schools received a one-hour lesson on self-strength. Student attitudes were measured before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and approximately one month later. The preliminary estimates indicate that the one-hour lesson increased growth-mindset-related attitudes in the short run, with the clearest effect on learning-objective orientation. The effects are concentrated in initially lower-performing schools and are not clearly observed one month after the intervention. Descriptive panel analyses further show that growth mindset and related response measures are positively associated with a wide range of student behaviors. The findings suggest that brief school-based lessons may shift students’ learning-related beliefs and their behaviors positively in the short run.

Language

English presentation and material(s)

Presenter Biography

Prof. Ryuichi Tanaka is a professor at the Institute of Social Science at The University of Tokyo. His fields of expertise span labor economics, the economics of education, and applied econometrics. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from New York University, after graduating from The University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Economics and completing its master’s program. He previously taught at The University of Osaka and the Institute of Science Tokyo prior to joining the Institute of Social Science as a professor in 2017.

To Participate

1. Online Registration
https://forms.gle/q3GPFjxyF9UyhMpH9

2. E-mail Registration
Please send us an e-mail at office@agi.or.jp with your name, affiliation and phone number.

We will send you a Zoom link for participation via e-mail by one business day before the seminar.

Registration Deadline

Thursday, July 9 at 1:00 pm

How to Participate Online

date：2026.06.16
Category：Seminars