Why do Black men and women have such different average levels of educational attainment? One explanation may be inequalities in experiences with punishment through in-school suspensions, arrests, and incarcerations. Drawing on intersectional frameworks and theories of social control, I examine the long-term impacts of institutional punishment on the Black gender gap using NLSY-97. Decomposition analyses reveal that about one fifth of the gender gap can be explained by gender differences in experiences with institutional punishments, net differences in observed behaviors, while over one third is attributable to achievement differences. These measures are predictive at key educational transition points, including finishing high school, entering college, and finishing a two- or four-year college degree. Though Black boys and girls have similar family backgrounds and grow up in similar neighborhoods, Black girls have a persistent advantage in educational attainment due primarily to their comparatively higher grades and lower levels of suspensions, arrests, and incarcerations. Furthermore, the extent to which punishment and achievement differences are associated with later educational gender gaps varies by parental education. Taken together, these results show the importance of both punishment and achievement disparities in predicting disparate educational outcomes over the life course of Black men and women. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]