International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 13, Issue 9 (September 2026), Pages: 17-28

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 Original Research Paper

Mediating effect of academic grit in the relationship between mathematics engagement and achievement: A PLS-SEM analysis

 Author(s): 

Christopher R. Vergara *

 Affiliation(s):

College of Education, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, Cabanatuan City, Philippines

 Full text

    Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9096-1449

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

 
https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2026.09.003

 Abstract

First-year university students often struggle with the cognitive and motivational demands of university-level mathematics, yet how engagement and perseverance jointly influence achievement remains underexplored. This study examined the mediating role of academic grit in the relationship between mathematics engagement and achievement among 309 first-year students at a Philippine state university. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with a split-sample validation design, the dataset was randomly divided into exploratory and confirmatory subsamples to reduce the risk of overfitting. Across both analyses, cognitive engagement consistently emerged as the strongest direct predictor of mathematics achievement, with a moderate effect, while emotional engagement made a statistically significant contribution with a small effect. Together, the two constructs accounted for 37.9% of the variance in mathematics achievement. Behavioral engagement, social engagement, and academic grit did not independently predict achievement once these two constructs were included in the model. Because the paths from engagement to grit were weak and non-significant, the structural precondition for mediation was not met, indicating that grit could not function as a mediator. These findings suggest that mathematics instruction should prioritize higher-order, metacognitively demanding tasks that promote deep cognitive processing, while treating emotional engagement as a supportive complement rather than an independent intervention target. Fostering cognitive engagement, rather than simply encouraging perseverance, may therefore provide a more productive pathway to improving mathematics achievement in university settings.

 © 2026 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

Mathematics engagement, Academic grit, Mathematics achievement, Cognitive engagement, Emotional engagement

 Article history

Received 10 May 2026, Received in revised form 17 August 2026, Accepted 2 September 2026

 Acknowledgment

The author gratefully acknowledges the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology (NEUST) College of Education for granting permission and support in the conduct of the study. Sincere appreciation is also extended to the student-participants for their willingness, time, and cooperation, which enabled the completion of this research. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

The study was approved by the NEUST College of Education Institutional Ethics Review Committee (Approval No. 20261377). Participants were informed of the study’s purpose, procedures, voluntary nature, and right to withdraw without penalty. Informed consent was obtained. No identifying information was collected, and data were kept confidential, securely stored, and used solely for research purposes. 

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

Vergara CR (2026). Mediating effect of academic grit in the relationship between mathematics engagement and achievement: A PLS-SEM analysis. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 13(9): 17-28

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