The mediating role of grit between mindset and academic engagement among undergraduate students in central Ethiopia regional state public universities

Academic engagement is a critical determinant of student learning and persistence in higher education, yet evidence from countries like Ethiopia remains limited, particularly regarding the role of non-cognitive personal resources. This study examined the predictive and mediating relationships among mindset, grit, and academic engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption) among undergraduate students in central Ethiopia regional state. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted with 438 second-year students from two public universities. Validated measures of mindset, grit, and academic engagement were administered. All statistical assumptions were verified before analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyze the data. The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory reliability, convergent and discriminant validity. Control variables including age, gender, and college type were incorporated into the structural model. The result indicated that except natural and computational science which demonstrated significantly higher scores on the mediator variable relative to the social science and humanities reference category (β = 0.447, p < 0.01), all other control variables including the remaining college categories did not exhibit statistically significant differences. Structural model results also indicated that both mindset (β = 0.325, p < 0.001) and grit (β = 0.446, p < 0.001) were positively associated with academic engagement in the specified model. Mindset was positively associated with grit (β = 0.512, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis revealed that grit partially mediated the relationship between mindset and academic engagement (indirect β = 0.228, p < 0.001). The adjusted coefficient of determination (adjusted R 2 ) indicated that the model explained 46.8% of the variance in academic engagement. These findings suggest that academic engagement among undergraduate students at two public universities in central Ethiopia regional state is associated with mindset and grit. The findings imply that mindset and grit may be relevant determinants for student support services; however, whether such support strategies might promote academic engagement requires additional experimental or longitudinal research.