MBTI and Academic Success

1. MBTI and Academic Success
Research Project By: Jade Dewey

2. Introduction
Academic success is something that many people strive
for, but it is not something that everyone achieves.
Unfortunately, not everyone who attends college
succeeds.
*(Gokalp, 2013; Flono, 2015; Rankin, 2002; Fienstein, 2008; Wilson, 2006)

3. “Only 15.6% of students
graduate from Southern
Oregon University on-
time”
*College Factual. (Southern Oregon University
Graduation & Retention)
This number is below
than the national
average and may be
influencing many
students’ academic
success.

4. Less than 4 out of 10
students who attend
Southern Oregon
University will graduate
*College Factual. (Southern Oregon University
Graduation & Retention)
To be precise, only 31.7%
of students graduate from
SOU.
These graduation rates are
lower than the national
average.
“Southern Oregon
University is among the
worst performing schools
nationally when it comes
to graduating students”

5. How to address
low graduation
rates:
 One approach to address the problem of
low graduation rates at Southern Oregon
is found by utilizing the information from
the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
instrument and incorporating differences
in personality type into the education
system.
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator may be a
key in increasing graduation rates and
academic success at Southern Oregon
University.
“Educators recognize that
students dropping out of school
is one of the most difficult
challenges facing our public
school system”
*(Lunenburg, 2000)

6. The Research Question
How does Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality
type influence academic success, through graduation
rates and GPA, and choice of major of students at
Southern Oregon University?

7. MBTI Explanation
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is used to determine a
person’s personality type based off of four preferences. These
preferences are towards:
-Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I)
-Intuition (N) or Sensing (S)
-Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
- Perceiving (P) or Judging (J)
*(Zarafshani, 2011)

8. MBTI Explanation
From these four sets of preferences, sixteen different personality
types are formed:
the ENTP, the ENFP, the ENTJ, the ENFJ, the ESTP, the ESFP, the
ESTJ, the ESFJ, the INTP, the INFP, the INTJ, the INFJ, the ISTP, the
ISFP, the ISTJ, and the ISFJ
*(Zarafshani, 2011)

9. MBTI Preferences Distribution
Extrovert: E
45-53%
49.3%
Sensing: S
66-74%
73.3%
Thinking: T
40-50%
40.2%
Judging: J
54-60%
54.1%
Introvert: I
47-55%
50.7%
Intuitive: N
26-34%
26.7%
Feeling: F
50-60%
59.8%
Perceiving: P
40-46%
45.9%
*Data attained from www.myersbriggs.org

10. MBTI Personality Type
Frequency Distribution
ISTJ
11-14%
11.6%
ISFJ
9-14%
13.8%
INFJ
1-3%
1.5%
INTJ
2-4%
2.1%
ISTP
4-6%
5.4%
ISFP
5-9%
8.8%
INFP
4-5%
4.4%
INTP
3-5%
3.3%
ESTP
4-5%
4.3%
ESFP
4-9%
4.4%
ENFP
6-8%
8.1%
ENTP
2-5%
3.2%
ESTJ
8-12%
8.7%
ESFJ
9-13%
12.3%
ENFJ
2-5%
2.5%
ENTJ
2-5%
1.8%
*Data attained from www.myersbriggs.org

11. Why is it that some students achieve academic
success and other don’t?
One-size fits all approaches leaves some students at a disadvantage.
A diverse population’s success in academia is influenced by a difference in
how students of different learning styles prefer to learn, and these
differences impact the attitudes and success in academia that students will
have.
Some students who are left at a disadvantage become high-risk students
and are more likely to suffer from higher drop-out rates. Designing
curriculum that is geared towards addressing differences in students makes
effective learning more likely.
*(Feinstein, 2008; Gokalp, 2013; Lunenburg, 2000)

12. “Knowledge of a student's
learning type can help
teachers in retaining at-risk
students”
*(Lunenburg, 2000; Kun, 2015).
Each of these sixteen personality
types may respond and interact
differently to the world around
them based off of their innate
preferences and can lead to a
difference in learning styles among
individuals.
“Types and preferences which
contribute positively or negatively
to academic success.”

13. Effects of Preferences in Academia
*(Provost, 1991; Felder, 2005)
Preferences determined in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator can specifically relate to a student’s performance in the
classroom, therefore, balance is important to foster a more equal attempt at academic success :
• Extroverts: Works better in groups and discussing with people.
• Introverts: Works best alone and with more time to think before speaking.
• Sensing: Prefer to learn a skill, perfect it, and practice it with little variation. Practical.
• Intuitive: Prefer to use their imaginative instincts. Abstract. Less patient with routine.
• Feeling: Prefer to have what is learned be of service to other people and personal values.
• Thinking: Prefer a clearly presented set of performance criteria. Systematic.
• Judging: Focus on accomplishments, prefer structure, goals, and deadlines.
• Perceiving: Depend less on accomplishing tasks, more on flexibility. May feel too restricted in a highly structured
classroom.

14. Preferences Effects in Academia
 Individuals MBTI preferences and personality types have an effect on the way that they learn.
 “Students differ from one another in a wide variety of ways, including the types of instruction
to which they respond best (learning styles), the ways they approach their studies
(orientations to studying and approaches to learning), and their attitudes about the nature of
knowledge and their role in constructing it (levels of intellectual development).”
 Awareness of difference in attitudes towards learning between different types is an important
component. The better the understanding of this is “the more effectively they can design
instruction that benefits all of their students. In turn, the better students understand the
strengths and weaknesses associated with their attitudes and preferences, the more likely they
will be to learn effectively while they are in school and throughout their careers.”
*(Felder, 2005; Lunenburg, 2000; Fornaciari, 2013)

15. Typical Type in Education
 Many conventional school systems were found to favor an Introvert
Intuitive Thinking Judging, or INTJ learning style and personality type.
 The opposite type students, the ESFP, have a particularly difficult time
adapting to this and are often at-risk of not graduating.
*(Lunenburg, 2000)

16. “A standard curriculum is
acceptable so long as there
is flexibility to adjust to the
needs of all”
They key in this is flexibility and
accommodation.
Research also shows that
incorporating various learning
styles and modifying
curriculum/ teaching methods
to make them more
accommodating to students
cognitive differences “increases
the chances of scholastic
success for all learners”
*(Moores, 2013; Lunenburg, 2000)

17. Choice of Major
 There was a significant relationship between the selection of a major and the individual’s
personality type.
 Other studies show that using an individual’s personality type may help them to establish a better
environmental and academic fit based on their natural abilities and differences in thought process,
and that this may be utilized in the students’ favor by making them potentially more likely to
succeed in academia.
*(Porter, 2006; McPherson, 2007)

18. Choice of Major
 MBTI is also shown in many cases to influence choice of major in academia. The major
that an individual chooses to study also influences how well a student succeed based on
the expectations in place in that field.
 When students choose a major, they also are being placed in an academic environment
that may or may not reflect the strengths found in their MBTI type . This selected
environment may effect performance and is related to a student’s “levels of educational
stability, satisfaction, and achievement.”
*(McPherson, 2007; Porter, 2006; Lunenburg, 2000)

19. Conclusion
 These reasons indicate that gaining a better understanding of the differences in MBTI
personality types may impact how well students perform in academic settings.