Carol Dweck hasn't done science? Why would you say that? Do you say that because you don't feel that psychology is a science or is it because of something about her work in particular?
In any case my impression is that the article was about different strategies for improving achievement. I'm not a psychologist, but I've seen some pretty convincing articles that show that praise for how smart a kid is versus praise for how hard they work affects how they handle failure. Increasing perseverance would be a good way to be more successful in academia, I would imagine.
Agreed. It's a shame to write off Dweck's research because of poor phrasing on the part of the writer of the article. Her work is massively important. If you're not willing to understand the psychological underpinnings of motivation, then you're leaving out a big part of the puzzle.
In any case my impression is that the article was about different strategies for improving achievement. I'm not a psychologist, but I've seen some pretty convincing articles that show that praise for how smart a kid is versus praise for how hard they work affects how they handle failure. Increasing perseverance would be a good way to be more successful in academia, I would imagine.