Trends in Educational Attainment among Ethnic Minorities: Arabs in Israel

Barbara S. Okun, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Dov Friedlander, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Arabs in Israel are a heterogeneous but largely disadvantaged minority with a history of discrimination suffered in the education and employment arenas. Large gender gaps in educational attainment have also characterized certain sectors of the population. In this paper, we document changes across birth cohorts in the educational attainment of Arabs in Israel. We make comparisons both between different Arab religious groups, as well as between Arabs and the majority Jewish population. We also analyze determinants of educational attainment, including social, economic, demographic, and community-level factors in childhood. Ours is the first systematic study and analysis of ethnic gaps in educational attainment among Arabs and Jews in Israel, and provides a picture of change over birth cohorts from the 1920s to those presently entering higher education.