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Ableism and Mindset of Future Educators

ableism, assumes that people with disabilities are not discriminated against
but rather expect too much from society. Ableism also manifests as a lack of
empathy towards disabled individuals (the fourth factor) and an inability to
recognize the social injustice they face, thereby underscoring the pervasive
nature of ableism in various facets of society. Beside defining the concept of
ableism, it is important to research potential factors that contribute to the
formation of ableist attitudes.

Mindset and Prejudices
More recent literature indicates a potential link between the concepts of
mindset and ableism (Hoyt & Burnette, 2025). According to the mindset the-
ory (Dweck, 2006), people hold varying beliefs about how much human char-
acteristics (for example personality traits, abilities, talents) can change. Some
individuals believe these traits are largely unchangeable – an outlook Dweck
(2006) termed a fixed mindset. In contrast, those with a growth mindset be-
lieve that abilities can be developed through effort, persistence, experiment-
ing with different strategies, and seeking support or guidance from others.
In their work, Hoyt and Burnette (2025) presented two theoretical frame-
works to elucidate the relationship between mindset and prejudice: the
double-edged sword model and the stigma-reduction model. The double-
edged sword model is somewhat equivocal, as it possesses the capacity of
growth mindset to simultaneously augment or diminish prejudice towards
individuals. The enhancement of this bias occurs when individuals are held
responsible for their condition, so they are blamed for it (Hoyt & Burnette,
2025). That is why sometimes ‘fixed’ messages about the nature of the stig-
matized attribute (e.g. obesity as the disease and not the consequence of
lifestyle) are believed to reduce prejudices against stigmatized groups (Hoyt
& Burnette, 2025). In the context of disability, the blame is attributed to the
condition itself. Conversely, the role of growth mindset in a decline in preju-
dice can be attributed to the deconstruction of the categorization of individ-
uals based on presumed inherent characteristics or so-called social essen-
tialism (Hoyt & Burnette, 2025). Consequently, adopting a growth mindset
concerning the intelligence of disabled individuals, wherein intelligence is
conceptualized as malleable, may potentially diminish prejudice towards the
intelligence of disabled individuals. The stigma-reduction model suggests
that when a condition is attributed to external causes, the reduction in blame
is linked to a growth mindset. The perception of capability plays a pivotal role
in this regard (Hoyt & Burnette, 2025). Babij et al. (2023) investigated the role
of the double-edged sword model with regard to mental illness and found

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