David Yeager, Gregory Walton, and Geoffrey Cohen have researched the impact of minor psychological interventions that can impact students self-efficacy. They have written a number of relevant articles including Social-Psychological Interventions in Education: They're Not Magic and Addressing Achievement Gaps with Psychological InterventionsThe authors' research is compelling, especially because the interventions take very little time but can have profound impacts on the success of underrepresented minority students and women.

summarizes a number of research studies discussed in Yeager, Walton, and Cohen articles.