Hamilton College

In their 2020 study on gender achievement gaps, Workman and Heyder reported the following results regarding the social costs of academic effort:
- 12% of males and 8% of females reported that they would be made fun of for trying hard in school.
- Male students were 1.75 times more likely than female students to report they would be unpopular for trying hard.
- High social costs led to lower effort and a lower GPA.
- Females reported greater effort, a higher GPA, and taking more rigorous coursework.

Results: Gender Achievement Gaps and Social Costs to Trying Hard in High School

Workman, J. & Heyder, A. (2020). Gender achievement gaps: The role of social costs to trying hard in high school. Social Psychology of Education, 23, 1407-1427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09588-6

Gender Achievement Gaps: The Role of Social Costs to Trying Hard in High School

Path Model Explaining Gender Differences in Highest Math Course Taking

Path Model Explaining Gender Differences in STEM GPA

- Female students experienced fewer social costs to academic effort than male students.
- Different social costs to trying hard in school contributed to gender differences in academic effort.
- Whether social costs explained gender differences in academic achievement seemed to depend on outcome: moreso in course-taking than GPA

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