In 2024, 91 percent of female students in Arkansas graduated on time. For male students, the number was 87 percent.

The gap between them — 4 percentage points — is close to the national average of roughly 5 points. But unlike the racial gaps in Arkansas, which have been narrowing, the gender gap is going nowhere.

Seven Years, No Movement

Arkansas has reported graduation rates by gender since 2018. In every year since, girls have outpaced boys by 3.7 to 5.5 points.

The gap hit 5.5 points in 2019, narrowed to 3.7 in 2022, then widened back to 4.0 in 2024. There is no trend. The lines move roughly in parallel — when female rates rise, male rates rise by approximately the same amount. When one dips, the other dips. The gap persists at around 4 points regardless of the direction of the overall trend.

This stands in stark contrast to the white-Black gap, which narrowed from 7.7 to 5.5 points over the same period, or the poverty gap, which shrank from 3.2 to 2.1 points. Those gaps responded to targeted interventions or structural shifts. The gender gap appears immune to both.

Where Boys Sit in the Subgroup Landscape

At 87 percent, male students sit 2 points below the state average and below every other major subgroup except foster care (67.9 percent), English learners (82.9 percent), students experiencing homelessness (82.9 percent), and Black students (85.1 percent).

Female students at 91 percent sit above every subgroup except Asian (96.3 percent) and gifted. The 4-point gap means that being male, as a single variable, depresses graduation probability about as much as being from a low-income family (2.1 points below average) — and more than being Hispanic (0.5 points below average).

By the numbers: Female graduation rate: 91.0%. Male: 87.0%. Gap: 4.0 points. Range over 7 years: 3.7 to 5.5 points. No narrowing trend.

The Districts Where It Gets Worse

The statewide gender gap of 4 points widens dramatically at the district level. At Mount Ida^↗ET, male students graduated at 58.3 percent in 2024 — the lowest male graduation rate in the state. Barton-Lexa was at 61.3 percent. Shirley was at 62.5 percent. Marvell-Elaine was at 66.7 percent.

Pine Bluff^↗ET graduated male students at 70.5 percent. Blytheville was at 70.8 percent. North Little Rock was at 73 percent.

In these districts, the male non-graduation rate is not a gap — it is a crisis. A 58 percent male graduation rate means more than two in five boys who enter high school will not finish on time.

Why the Gap Does Not Close

The gender graduation gap is one of the most stubborn patterns in American education. It exists in every state, in nearly every district, across every racial and economic subgroup. The explanations are well-documented: boys are disciplined at higher rates, diagnosed with behavioral disorders more often, and socialized toward different educational behaviors. They are more likely to be retained in grade, more likely to be suspended, and more likely to disengage from school.

What makes the gap resistant to improvement is that it is not caused by a single policy failure. The racial gap can narrow when schools improve instruction for Black and Hispanic students. The poverty gap can narrow when free lunch programs expand. The gender gap does not have an equivalent policy lever. It is embedded in how schools, families, and peer groups interact with adolescent boys — and those interactions are harder to change by legislative action or administrative reform.

Arkansas's gap of 4 points is actually narrower than many states, which may reflect the state's relatively homogeneous school culture. But the absence of any narrowing trend over seven years suggests that 4 points may be where Arkansas's gender gap lives permanently — unless something changes that no one has yet identified.

Data source

Graduation rate data comes from the Arkansas Department of Education Data Center, covering four-year adjusted cohort graduation rates from 2018 through 2024 for gender subgroups.

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