Academic Education of Israeli Arabs: Transitions from 2006 to 2016 and the Impact on Their Social Integration

Abstract

This study (2016) compares Arab and Jewish students and continues a study conducted in 2006. The purpose of the current study is to examine the transitions in Israel’s higher education over one decade, from five aspects: students’ personal-family and academic characteristics, motivation for academic studies, perceived self-efficacy to succeed, perceived social academic climate, and views on the contribution of academic studies to their integration in the Israeli job market. One hundred twenty Arab students were sampled, in a case study of an Israeli university, Ariel University of Samaria, which was established in 1982 as a college and became a university in 2012. Ariel University reflects characteristic trends among academic institutions around the world, where higher education is becoming more accessible to different populations and which we define as a global counterpart. This case study represents the state of affairs on Israeli campuses. The study illuminates and invites discussion of the situation in other countries in Europe and the USA, following the Muslim immigration to these countries. In recent years, the campuses have been undergoing a process of Islamization and new groups are trying to find their place on the campuses.