Want your kids to do well at school? It takes more than motivation

Remember that maths test in high school – the one you and your friend studied hard for, but only one of you managed to pass?   

You both crammed late into the night, but somehow, they scored a flawless A+, and you were left staring at a soul-crushing D. 

Chances are, someone – your teacher or even your parents – told you that you didn’t try hard enough.  

But what if there’s a reason the hours you spent grinding away didn’t pay off the same way they did for your study buddy? 

Dr Sutanuka Roy, an economist at the Australian National University (ANU), calls this a productivity issue. 

“Some students may want to succeed but struggle to convert their efforts into results. Maybe they lack foundational skills or have difficulty,” she says. 

“So even when they put in the time, the learning payoff is low. This is what we know as low study productivity.”  

In a large-scale experiment involving thousands of fifth and sixth grade students in the US, Roy and colleagues from American and Canadian universities found evidence that challenges the popular belief that underperforming students simply need to pull their socks up. 

“Our study shows motivation is not the main factor separating struggling students from high achievers. Many low-achieving students are not unmotivated – they are simply less productive learners,” Roy says.  

“We observed more productive students were able to complete tasks like homework more quickly and effectively. For them, the cost of studying – time, effort, and frustration – stayed low enough that continuing to do it made sense.”  

“But for less productive students, the same effort led to slower progress, higher costs, and, eventually, rational disengagement – not necessarily due to a lack of motivation, but because the return on their efforts felt too small.”  

Unequal education

If productivity is a crucial ingredient for academic success, how can we ensure all students are productive learners? 

According to Roy’s research, this can depend on factors beyond a student’s control, including school quality, race, gender and socioeconomic background. 

“We found that students in higher-performing, better-resourced schools tend to achieve more. Not because these schools make students more motivated, but because they help students become productive learners, getting more out of each hour they invest in learning,” she says.  

But access to quality education remains a global, wicked problem.    

“Black and Hispanic students may be more likely to express higher interest in STEM careers than their White and Asian peers. However, despite their motivation, they may also face structural disadvantages, such as coming from lower-income households or being enrolled in schools with fewer resources, lower teacher pays and less qualified faculty,” Roy says.  

“These constraints limit their ability to turn motivation into actual academic success and generate a frustrating mismatch: educators and policymakers frequently promote STEM as a pathway out of poverty, yet the very students who are most eager to pursue that path are often denied the academic inputs they need to succeed. 

“The implications are far-reaching. If we continue to rely on systems that assume all students have equal starting points and equal access to effective instruction, we risk reinforcing inequality across the life cycle: from education, to employment, to earnings.” 

Though her study focused on school districts in Chicago, Roy points out that Australia, which has one of the most unequal educations systems in the OECD, has a lot to learn from her study’s findings.  

“Australia faces persistent educational performance gaps across socioeconomic, racial, and geographic lines,” she says. 

“Students from lower-income families, rural communities, and Indigenous backgrounds often face barriers that limit not only their access to quality education but also their ability to convert effort into academic success.” 

How do we level the field?

Study productivity is not set in stone.  

“Students with low study productivity can certainly improve over time. Our findings show it is malleable and can be shaped both by school quality and earlier learning experience. This means it’s never ‘too late’ for students to catch up,” Roy says.  

As part of the study, Roy and her collaborators found that many students from low-achieving groups are highly motivated, suggesting that productivity-enhancing interventions such as targeted tutoring, better instructional support or skill-building programs could make a difference.  

“If we want to close achievement gaps, policymakers should acknowledge that many low-performing students are in fact highly motivated, but face barriers that reduce the efficiency of their learning,” Roy says. 

“Investments in education should therefore prioritise these underserved populations, where the returns to boosting productivity are likely to be highest.”  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rewriting the rules we live by and Roy is confident it can help students become productive learners –working alongside teachers rather than replacing them. 

“Unlike one-size-fits-all instruction, AI tools can adjust the level of difficulty, pace, and style of explanation to match each learner’s needs, ensuring that study time is spent more efficiently,” she says.  

“AI can help educators detect when students are stuck or disengaging, allowing for timely intervention that supports students who might not otherwise have access to individualised help – potentially narrowing long-standing performance gaps.” 

Roy’s research strongly supports the United Nation’s sustainable development goal number four, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all. 

She is one of five female scholars from the ANU Research School of Economics to have their recent work accepted by some of the world’s best economics journals.  

“This is a rare and inspiring achievement, and it reflects my department’s commitment to excellence, diversity and the advancement of women in economics,” she says.  

“I am immensely proud to be part of the Department of Economics at ANU, led by Professor Rabee Tourky. This highly ambitious project was made possible thanks to their tremendous support.”