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.