As Zeebrommer mentioned, I'd steer clear of this thinking. Carol Dweck's entire research has been on "fixed" and "growth" mindsets, and their impact on people's performance. Instructors that believe someone is or is not an "X person" have a negative impact on students. That is, if I believe in the idea that there are STEM-illiterate and STEM-literature people, why should I both helping someone who is STEM-illiterate?
Instead, adopting a growth mindset, that while one may not know something now, with time and effort they can gain understanding is much more powerful. As I've argued in other threads, this may include doing things that are frustrating or otherwise "not fun" to establish grit/perseverance.
Think of it this way, when you were a baby, you were "spoon"-illiterate. If you parents decided you're just "not a spoon person", you would be raised not knowing how to use a tool everyone else thinks is easy. If you grew up never using a spoon, and it became a requirement for future career advancement - you might become frustrated because you were taught you "were not a spoon person" instead of "I need to learn how to spoon!"
aside: Sisk et al (To What Extent and Under Which Circumstances Are Growth Mind-Sets Important to Academic Achievement? Two Meta-Analyses DOI 10.1177/0956797617739704) looked at >450,000 students and found little or no effect size for this approach.
standard primary literature caveats etc and where it is/is not applicable but this does put 'growth mindset' on the back foot.
I think you've misunderstood me or conflated my comment with someone else's; mine said nothing about fixed vs growth mindset. The term "innumerate" -- just like "illiterate" -- indicates the current state of a person's abilities, not some fixed or inherent trait. The remedy is education.
Instead, adopting a growth mindset, that while one may not know something now, with time and effort they can gain understanding is much more powerful. As I've argued in other threads, this may include doing things that are frustrating or otherwise "not fun" to establish grit/perseverance.
Think of it this way, when you were a baby, you were "spoon"-illiterate. If you parents decided you're just "not a spoon person", you would be raised not knowing how to use a tool everyone else thinks is easy. If you grew up never using a spoon, and it became a requirement for future career advancement - you might become frustrated because you were taught you "were not a spoon person" instead of "I need to learn how to spoon!"