Impact of Grit and Self-Control on the Academic Success of Pharmacy Students

Abstract

This study examines Grit and Self-control  and identifies  predictors of pharmacy students’ GPA. A cross-sectional study  of 417 students (October 2021) utilized  the Grit-S scale (assessing Consistency and Perseverance) and the Self-control scale. Data analysis was performed using  R language. Students reported moderate levels of  Perseverance, Consistency, and Self-control (mean: 3.00-3.40, score range: 1.00-5.00). A Bayesian Modeling Averaging-optimized regression analysis (R² = 0.6161) confirmed all three traits (p < 0.001), and religious affiliation (p = 0.003) as positive predictors of GPA, contributing 40.10%, 37.51%, 20.50%, and 1.89%, respectively, of the R².  As the first empirical study in Viet Nam validating the strong predictive capacity of these traits (R² > 61%), this work establishes a critical baseline by characterizing student cohorts’ GPA assessed in 2021. These data suggested that students with higher levels of grit could achieve higher GPAs. Therefore, school administrators should implement strategies to improve students’ grit for academic success.