They attend the same classes with access to the same programs, and even come from the same families. But girls consistently are outperforming boys, graduating at higher rates at public high schools around the country.
The gap between them is wide, often as wide as the achievement gap between students from affluent and low-income families, a problem that officials have tracked closely for years. But the reasons why boys are falling short are not as clear. Interviews with students, educators and researchers point to several factors. Men generally can earn the same wages as women with less education. But boys also are more likely to face suspensions or other discipline knocking them off track, and they don’t pursue help as often when they face mental health challenges.
Some boys are fine when they first drop out, landing jobs providing steady incomes. But over the long term, lacking a high school degree can hold men back. Studies show young men who drop out of high school earn less over their lifetimes and are more likely to end up in jail.
Bryant West was halfway through high school in Pascagoula, Mississippi, when he dropped out in 2020. Instead of learning algebra and other things he couldn’t imagine ever needing, he felt his time was better spent working at Popeye’s and on landscaping crews to help his mother with bills.
“I feel like it was pointless,” he said.
West, 18, planned instead to earn his GED, which he received three years later, in September. “It was just another way that I wanted to do it,” he said.
In some cases, boys like West aren’t in as much of a hurry to graduate as girls because they haven’t needed a high school degree to cover rent and groceries, said Beth Jarosz, a program director at research organization PRB.
A man without a high school diploma often earns as much as a woman who has completed a year or two of college, Jarosz said.
The U.S. government doesn’t require states to report graduation data by gender the way they must break it out by racial and ethnic groups and for children with disabilities, English language learners and homeless students. But in every state reporting high school graduation rate by gender, research shows female students graduate at higher rates.
In 2018, over 45,000 fewer boys graduated high school than girls, with an 6% gap that persisted in 2021. This gender disparity has often been overlooked, but some schools are implementing successful strategies. Yonkers, New York, improved graduation rates for boys, especially boys of colour, through mentoring programs. Addressing the racial gap in graduation rates helped narrow the gender gap to 7% in 2022. Boys are more frequently referred to special education and suspended, hindering their on-time graduation.
Buffalo, influenced by Barack Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, offers mentoring and recruits male teachers but still faces a 10% gender gap. Research suggests girls’ success is due to goal-setting and rule-following, while race plays a complex role in the
gender gap.
