This paper concerns itself with researching the level of persistence in the gender equality index using fractional integration techniques. We analyze the orders (levels) of integration of the time series related to 190 countries for the years 1971 to 2023, which permits us to study whether the given shocks to the series are permanent or transitory in nature. Our findings are quite diverse across different countries. A significant positive trend is seen for 141 countries. Orders of integration far above what we regard as the equilibrium value (mean-reverting) of 1 are only noted for Qatar (0.41), Sweden (0.64), and Japan (0.74), which evidence strong mean-reversion and cycle shocks in the short run. On the other extreme, there are orders of integration remarkably higher than the number 1 observed in Dominica (1.15) and Saudi Arabia (1.23). To our knowledge, this has been the first attempt to apply a fractional integration model for panel data on 190 countries to estimate trends and levels of gender inequality.