Universities and colleges have increasingly embraced inclusivity, innovation, and continuous learning as core values. These values go hand-in-hand with fostering a higher education environment that aims to uplift all members of their academic community. However, at the heart of these values is failure – the unifying force that intertwines inclusivity, innovation, and continuous learning. Paradoxically, while failure is integral to progress, it also possesses the power to dismantle cultures. It can inadvertently exclude individuals, stifle creativity, and impede lifelong learning. Consequently, universities may struggle with upholding their institutional values.

The Impact of Fear

The fear of failure can profoundly impact mental health. It can cause paralyzing anxiety, hindering students from pursuing their goals. This fear often leads to procrastination, as individuals avoid tasks due to the dread of potential failure. For those with severe atychiphobia (fear of failure), it can become a debilitating phobia that disrupts daily life and functioning. This fear can trigger other mental health issues, such as depression, as students feel helpless, worthless, and unable to realize their potential.

Ultimately, the fear of failure has the capacity to immobilize students. This undermines their mental well-being, and inhibit their personal and professional growth. Addressing this fear within an inclusive culture and cultivating a healthier mindset towards failure is essential for institutions to help students maintain good mental health and promote personal development. Regrettably, failure can potentially paralyze prospective students by preventing them from applying for admissions and scholarships. We may not get a chance to serve these students. Students who overcome fear during this time by taking the step to apply represents a milestone toward achieving social mobility. However, fear often resurfaces. Once students academically struggle, fear can hinder students from seeking academic assistance. Consequently, fear becomes a demotivating force that discourages students from persisting.

Inclusivity: The Plight of Stealth Students

For stealth students, whose academic struggles often go unnoticed, the fear of failure is particularly potent. These students may find themselves withdrawing from their studies or even dropping out entirely, as the weight of their fears becomes overwhelming.

Many incoming college students grapple with the fear of failing, a universal experience that can manifest in various ways. However, for stealth students, this fear is compounded by the perception that they must succeed independently, without seeking support services that are readily available on campus.

This reluctance to seek help can stem from societal pressures or familial expectations, leading stealth students to feel an intense need to conform. As a result, they may avoid challenging courses, procrastinate on assignments, or disengage from the academic environment altogether, further exacerbating their fear of failure.

Isolated and deprived of opportunities for growth and support, stealth students risk missing out on valuable resources that could help them overcome their fears and unlock their full potential. Their struggles remain hidden beneath the surface, leaving them vulnerable to the debilitating effects of fear and self-doubt.

The Duality of Failure

However, failure is part of the human experience. It represents a double-edged sword, capable of both inspiring resilience and sowing seeds of discouragement. On one hand, it can ignite a fire within individuals, fueling their determination to overcome obstacles and defy the odds. This underdog mentality can drive them to push beyond their perceived limits, unlocking hidden reserves of strength and perseverance. Failure, in this light, becomes a catalyst for personal growth and a testament to the indomitable human spirit.

On the other hand, failure can be a crushing force, weighing heavily on one’s psyche and casting a pall of self-doubt over their aspirations. The emotional toll of disappointment and frustration can be immense, leading individuals to question their abilities and worthiness. In the face of failure, some may retreat into their shells, paralyzed by fear and unable to muster the courage to try again.

The power of failure lies in its ability to shape our mindsets and actions. It can either propel us forward or hold us back, depending on how we choose to perceive and respond to it. Embracing failure as a natural part of the academic journey, while acknowledging the emotional turmoil it can bring, is crucial for universities and colleges to harness its transformative potential and to help students overcome its deterring effects.

The Psychological Phenomena

While universities may strive to promote inclusive, innovative, and continuous learning cultures, their enrollment and marketing strategies can sometimes succumb to psychological phenomena that run counter to these goals. For instance, BIRGing (Basking In Reflected Glory) is a self-serving cognition theory in which individuals associate themselves with the accomplishments of others to bask in their glory, thereby potentially boosting self-esteem. However, if universities solely engage in BIRGing, can they genuinely claim to foster an inclusive culture?

Conversely, CORFing (Cutting Off Reflected Failure) occurs when individuals disassociate themselves from lower-status individuals whom they perceive as failures. If universities engage in CORFing, how can they uphold inclusivity as a core value? These psychological tendencies shed light on the challenges of maintaining truly inclusive environments.

Embracing Failure as a Path to Inclusivity

Throughout our journeys, we all face setbacks and challenges. For example, esteemed faculty may encounter obstacles in getting their research published, and senior-level administrators may stumble in navigating crises. Despite these setbacks, we persevere.

Because failure is an inherent part of the human experience, we can empathize with others and foster a sense of solidarity. By building an inclusive culture that supports one another in leveraging failure to innovate and engage in continuous learning, we uphold our institution’s values.

Universities and colleges need to develop comprehensive strategies to help students overcome failure and perceptions of failure: from the beginning of the enrollment funnel to the support they receive once they become alums. Higer education should be known for its psychological safe spaces for students to fail fast and fail forward.

While higher education provides a safety net of support like writing centers, tutoring, and mentoring, we need strategies to help students combat the psychological cycle of fear and inaction. We need environments where students feel safe to take risks, make mistakes, and grow from it. We need to acknowledge and communicate that we all failed. None of us are perfect.

Shifting Focus Below the Surface

Recalling a popular use of the iceberg principle, we often spotlight the tip of the iceberg that symbolizes a person’s triumphs. Beneath the surface lie the struggles, setbacks, and self-doubts that occurred along the way. It is this invisibility that needs to be highlighted, especially for students who perceive academic success is not possible for them.

Students may view themselves as failures, while perceiving other students as winners. This constant social comparison can drop one’s level of worth. They can feel marginalized or excluded. If students don’t feel like they measure up to their peers, it can exacerbate their fears of failure.

Failure: A Pillar of Inclusivity

Fostering an inclusive culture requires embracing failure. Universities and colleges can humanize themselves by acknowledging not only how fear has affected them but also how they overcame it. If we fail to confront this fear, it has the potential to shut the door on students who possess potential to contribute valuable innovations to the workforce. If we don’t confront fear, it can impact.  The necessary continuous learning necessary for creating new solutions to presing societal challenges.

By not welcoming failure, how can higher education truly reflect an inclusive culture focused on innovation and continuous learning? This doesn’t mean that we pass students who haven’t earned a passing grade. This means that we tell them that we’ve been there before, and we will be there again. It’s about leveraging empathy to create connections and to drive motivation. It’s about revealing the unseen. This unseen represents students’ potential to overcome challenges.

Accepting failure sends a powerful message. It communicates that our academic community is here to support you. If winning is all that is valued in higher education, then none of us would be here. It provides evidence that our institution truly embraces inclusivity.

Furthermore, embracing failure in the context of an inclusive culture sends a powerful message to students who may feel marginalized or excluded. It communicates that everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, is valued and supported in their academic journey. This inclusivity extends beyond academic performance to encompass the holistic well-being of students, recognizing that failure is a normal part of life and not a reflection of one’s worth or potential.

In essence, by embracing failure, universities foster a culture of inclusivity and equip students with the tools and mindset needed to thrive in an ever-changing world. By acknowledging and learning from failure, individuals can truly reach their full potential and contribute meaningfully to society.

Conclusion

By shying away from acknowledging failure, are we inadvertently excluding those who have faced defeat? If so, how can we say that inclusivity exists? Embracing failure is essential to fostering an inclusive, innovative, and continuous learning culture within universities. It’s through failure that we transform, become resilient, and seek support when needed. Therefore, institutions must actively promote a culture that not only normalizes failure but also provides guidance on overcoming it.

If you want to create a strategy to build an inclusive culture, contact Dr. Theresa Billiot or connect with her on LinkedIn.