The negative thoughts took different forms in each individual...but they mostly gathered around two ideas. One set of thoughts was about belonging. Students in transition often experienced profound doubts about whether they really belonged—or could ever belong—in their new institution. The other was connected to ability. Many students believed in what Carol Dweck had named an entity theory of intelligence—that intelligence was a fixed quality that was impossible to improve through practice or study.

MSNBC doesn't opt for the "sprinkling" of diversity. On any given day, viewers are exposed to journalists, business experts, political analysts, scholars, academics and authors who are...also a diverse group based on race, gender, lifestyle and religion. Diversity-hungry black viewers are no doubt drawn to the network when they see the African-American anchor and host of her own show, Melissa Harris-Perry with her signature braids, moderating a roundtable of people of different hues and expertise -- a black Ivy professor wearing an unstructured "natural do," a gay woman from Pakistan who heads a large non-for-profit agency and an Asian journalist—who are chatting up politics, social-justice topics and issues that speak to a broad audience, but are particularly relevant to the black community. Props go to the direction that comes from the top.