Asset vs. Deficit Thinking

In higher education, we often talk about students who are struggling using language that implies they have some sort of deficit which is making it harder for them to learn or demonstrate their knowledge. Sometimes we believe they lack the attention span needed to do the work we expect of them. Sometimes we believe they were not appropriately prepared by their previous schools for college-level work. Sometimes we might even believe they simply don't "have what it takes" to succeed academically.

A particularly common conversation in STEM departments focuses on the gap in "quantitative reasoning skills" among incoming students. It tends to look something like this... The premise is that, in order to meet the expectations for completing a STEM major, a student must have strong quantitative reasoning skills. An observation of student performance indicates that some students have an easier time meeting expectations in our classes than others, and testing tells us that some students come in with those skills while others don't. Conversations about student success often focus on helping the students without the expected skills to catch up with everyone else.

Whether we believe it is something inherent in students' abilities or a failing of their previous education, we are thinking about these students using deficit thinking, focusing on what they don't have.

Shifting to Asset-Based Thinking

Asset-based thinking focuses on existing strengths and tries to build on them. Asset-based teaching values what all students bring to their learning spaces, appreciating that different students will show up with different strengths because they have different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and privileges. To create a more inclusive learning environment, we have to shift our own thinking to see student differences as assets which can benefit individual students and the learning community.

Especially for when you are interacting repeatedly with the same students, here are some questions you can ask a student to figure out some of their learning assets:

• Think of the classes you've taken that have gone well. What was working for you in those classes? Did your teachers in those classes identify anything you were good at doing?

• What kinds of coursework do you find most satisfying?

• Outside of school, what are some things you do well?

• What are you hoping to get out of this course/this assignment?

A student who has a strong interest in visual arts might benefit from creating a visual representation of a particular concept they are trying to understand or the control flow of a program they are trying to write. A student who is very socially oriented might benefit from working through a problem in a small group.

There is no magic formula, but the more you know about a student's assets, the more clues you have to guide you.

The Benefits

This approach to supporting student learning connects back to a theme that has appeared throughout this course: Don't assume.

• If we avoid making assumptions about who our students are, we will have an easier time recognizing their actual strengths.

• If we avoid making assumptions about what a student needs to succeed, we will have an easier time leveraging their existing strengths to help them find their own path to success.

• And, of course, if we avoid making assumptions about what "success" means to a student, we will have an easier time knowing where they are in relation to it.

Not only does this help us better support students, this way of thinking gives us practice getting the most out of experiences and situations we encounter in other parts of our lives.