Low-Income Female Students and the Reversal of the Black-White Gap in High School Graduation

Oct 15, 2026

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Low-income female students show an inverted Black-White high school graduation gap. Evidence from two nationally representative surveys and statewide administrative records indicates low-income White girls graduate at rates 5–6 percentage points lower than Black peers, despite higher test scores. Higher prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use among low-income White females explains about one third of the attainment disparity. Because early onset of substance use predicts lower later attainment, the study calls for research into drivers of risky behavior and its adolescent correlates and highlights how examining intersections of race, gender, and income can support targeted interventions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Data and Measures

Data sources

Measures examined

Findings

AERA Open April-June 2020, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 1–19 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858420915203 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2020. [http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Low-Income Female Students and the Reversal of the Black-White Gap in High School Graduation Brian Clark U.S. Department of Justice Ying Shi Syracuse University This article shows that the traditional narrative of Black-White high school graduation gaps is inverted among economically disadvantaged female students. Two nationally representative surveys and statewide administrative data demonstrate that low-income White females graduate at rates 5 to 6 percentage points lower than Black peers despite having higher test scores. Greater rates of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use among White females account for one third of the attainment disparity. Since the early onset of substance use among low-income White females predicts lower attainment, more research on the factors leading to risky behaviors and their correlates during early adolescence is warranted. Examining racial gaps in highschool graduation at the intersection of gender and income categories can inform more tailored interventions. Keywords: racial gap, educational attainment, risky behaviors, inequality Introduction Researchers have long documented widespread disparities in educational and labor market outcomes by race. On average, African Americans have lower test scores, lower educational attainment, and worse outcomes in terms of wages and labor market participation (Altonji & Blank, 1999; Bowen et al., 2009; Clotfelter et al., 2009; Fryer & Levitt, 2006; Murnane et al., 2006; Reardon & Robinson, 2008). Existing evidence shows that the Black-White gap in high school graduation is approximately 8 to 9 percentage points for those born in the 1980s (Heckman & LaFontaine [HL], 2010; Murnane, 2013) . Attainment disparities carry significant implications for future economic well-being (Tamborini et al., 2015); for example, high school dropouts fail to capture the substantial college wage premium in the labor market (Card, 1999; Grogger & Eide, 1995; Heckmanet al., 2006) . Closing high school graduation gaps across different racial and ethnic groups is therefore of concern to researchers and policymakers. In this article, we uncover a result not in accordance with perceived wisdom on racial disparities: economically disadvantaged Black girls complete high school at higher rates than their disadvantaged White peers. Graduation rates for low-income White girls are 5 to 6 percentage points lower than poorer Black girls across both national longitudinal surveys and statewide administrative data. We do not observe this reversal in racial gaps across any other gender and income category, including low-income boys. This finding underscores the importance of examining racial gaps at more granular sociodemographic categories to inform tailored interventions on attainment. We examine the influence of three sets of measures for this graduation deficit among low-income White females: variation in family, neighborhood, and schooling contexts; differences in cognitive skills; and a range of students’behavioral and socioemotional attributes that proxy for noncognitive skills. Specific measures include grade retention, absences, tardies, delinquency, self-esteem, substance use, and expectations. We operationalize the analyses using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), which provide detailed family background attributes, schooling variables, and student behaviorsand attitudes. We supplement these national samples with administrative statewide data from the North Carolina Education Research Data Center (NCERDC) and its variables on student standardized t

FAQs

What main finding challenges the usual Black-White graduation gap narrative?

Economically disadvantaged Black girls complete high school at higher rates than disadvantaged White girls, reversing the expected Black-White graduation gap.

How do graduation rates compare between low-income White and Black girls?

Low-income White girls graduate at rates 5–6 percentage points lower than poorer Black girls across both national longitudinal surveys and statewide administrative data.

What factor explains part of the attainment disparity?

Higher rates of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use among low-income White females account for about one third of the overall disparity.

Oct 15, 2026

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