Sampang Regency has the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) in East Java. Education indicators show an Expected Years of Schooling (EYS) of 12.38 and a Mean Years of Schooling (MYS) of 4.86. The low educational conditions in Sampang Regency require students to have high academic resilience. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of academic resilience and differences in academic resilience based on gender. This study used a non-experimental quantitative design. The subjects of the study were 308 students (47.7% male) with an average age of 16.67 years (SD = 1.10). The research instrument used is the Academic Resilience Scale-30 (ARS-30). Data were analyzed descriptively and using independent sample t-test. The results of the analysis showed that most of the students’ academic resilience in general was in the moderate category (75.65%). The academic resilience of both male (74.15%) and female (78.88%) students were the most in the moderate category. The results of the difference test showed that there were differences in students’ academic resilience based on gender (t = –2.4; P < 0.05). Different tests of three aspects of academic resilience showed differences based on gender, except for aspects of negative effect and emotional response. Gender has an influence on academic resilience in areas with low HDI.
 Keywords: academic resilience, gender, Human Development Index, Sampang district