The ethnic gap is closing

By Dalia Shehori

(C) reprinted with the permission of Haaretz Daily (English)

Despite the conventional wisdom, the ethnic gap in Israel is consistently narrowing, and will be eliminated within a generation, says a new study.

The study analyzed gaps in educational levels in Israel and the changes that have taken place over time. The main conclusion is that the gap between Sephardim and Ashkenazim as they enter high school has been reduced to the point that it essentially no longer exists. Conversely, the gap endures, albeit in a moderate amount, at the matriculation and secondary education (academic and other) levels.

The study, entitled "Religion, Ethnicity, Type of Locality and Educational Attainments among Israel's Population: An Analysis of Change Over Time," surveyed the development of the level of education of the children of immigrants up to the third generation. It demonstrates a clear connection between the number of years in Israel and the level of education. The study was conducted over a five-year period, and was executed by a research team of the Department of Population Studies at Hebrew University, under Professors Dov Friedlander and Zvi Eisenbach. They worked together with a team from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The research was underwritten by the Ministry of Education and the Israel Academy of Sciences.

The study is based on data prepared by the CBS for the specific purposes of the research, which linked the data of participants in the 1995 census with information about their family and household backgrounds from the 1983 census. The result is a unique compendium of data, "in the world, and not only in Israel," says Professor Friedlander. This made it possible to compare ethnic groups, starting with the 1950s and through the ensuing generations, affording researchers an opportunity to determine if gaps widened or narrowed.

Previous studies have not reached the same conclusions, says Friedlander, because they lacked a long-range perspective that enables researchers to record changes. For instance, the number of students graduating from high school with matriculation (bagrut) certificates has until now been calculated on the basis of annual Ministry of Education statistics about high-school graduates. The new study takes into account that some individuals take their bagrut exams during or after army service, and as late as age 30. "Our strategy was to wait for people, up to the age of 25, to determine their education status," says Friedlander.

Girls do even better

Based on the study, the increase that has taken place over the years in the number of Sephardim entering high school grew significantly higher than among Ashkenazim. Among children born in the years 1950-1954, about 47 percent of first- and second-generation Sephardi immigrants entered high school, as opposed to 92 percent of first-and second-generation Ashkenazi immigrants. Among the third generation, the gap narrowed to 86 percent of Sephardim and 93 percent of Ashkenazim, although it should be noted that the number of third-generation immigrants among Sephardim born in the 1950-54 period was less than 3 percent. Among Sephardi third-generation immigrants born in 1977-79, the gap is negligible: 92 percent of Sephardim entered high school, and 95 percent of Ashkenazim. Among females, the order was reversed: 96 percent of Sephardim entered high school, as opposed to 91 percent of Ashkenazi girls.

The gap was also narrowed among high-school graduates receiving matriculation certificates, which in turn led to an increase of 30 to 50 percent in the number of Sephardim admitted to schools of higher education. "This clearly indicates," the study concludes, "that contrary to the conventional wisdom, there were significant increases in the rates of students attending post-secondary education institutions among Israelis of Asian and North African descent, due to the dramatic growth in the number of students entering high school since the early 1950s.

Among those born in the 1965-69 period, 46 percent of third-generation Sephardi immigrants went on to institutions of higher learning, as opposed to 55 percent of Ashkenazim in the same generation. "The narrowing of the education gap between ethnic communities in Israel is a decisive, incontrovertible fact." The final elimination of the gap, he said, "is a long-term process. If it is not completed with the third generation [of immigration], it will be end more or less in the fourth generation," predicts Professor Friedlander.

The study found a close link between the parents' level of education and that of the children. As the parents' level of education has risen over the years, so has the children's level of education. Furthermore, the study found noticeable differences in education between individuals who grew up in small families - which granted them greater opportunities - and those raised in large families. Since the 1950s, there has been a decrease in family size among immigrants from Asia and Africa, and a parallel increase in children's level of education.

Another change: in recent years, the percentage of Sephardim opting for the academic track in high school (over the vocational track) has increased. This has in turn enhanced their chances of matriculating and continuing on to post-high school studies. The researchers view this as one of the most significant developments in the history of education in Israel. Nevertheless, they saw fit to offer this caveat in the conclusion: "For the purpose of offering a realistic view of the shifts in preferences of study tracks at the high school level, one should bear in mind that one result of the increase in the [students of Asian and African descent] who pursue an academic track in high school, is that the overall level of those in the academic track is likely to diminish."

Professor Friedlander explains why: "When an entire population starts going to high school, not everyone is equally talented, and it is obvious that there is less of what we call selection. We are saying that there will be more bagrut certificate recipients, but on the other hand, it is obvious that the average level will be lower in this case than when the group beginning high school is highly selective. It will slightly cancel out the advances that are being made."

Data from the study indicates that the rate of bagrut recipients who continue on to academic post-secondary studies is higher among women than among men. Accordingly, the gap-narrowing process between the ethnic groups is more accelerated among the women.

The following picture arises among third-generation Israelis born in 1965-69: among Sephardim, 61 percent of the boys received matriculation certificates, as opposed to 77 percent of the girls. Among Ashkenazim, 74 percent of the boys received a bagrut, and 83 percent of the girls. Thirty-three percent of third-generation Sephardi boys continued on to academic studies, and 44 percent of the Sephardi girls. Among Ashkenazim, 40 percent of the boys and 48 percent of the girls pursued academic studies.

Different on the periphery

This seemingly rose-colored picture is marred by the study's findings on education in development towns. It found sizable differences in the level of education between the Jewish population in the two largest cities, Tel Aviv and Haifa, and residents of the development towns. Essentially, the chance of development town residents receiving a bagrut certificate is lower than that of residents of every other type of settlement in Israel. The gap widens even further in the transition from bagrut certificates to academic studies.

Among city dwellers born in 1965-69, 76 percent of Ashkenazim and 53 percent of Sephardim matriculated. In development towns, only 66 percent of their Ashkenazi age peers received a bagrut, and 39 percent of Sephardim. Among city dwellers, 48 percent of Ashkenazim and 23 percent of Sephardim continued on to academic studies, whereas in development towns, only 22 percent of Ashkenazim and 13 percent of Sephardim continued on to institutions of higher learning.

Within the overall gap in education between development town residents and the rest of the population, there continues to be a internal gap between Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and there is also evidence of a gap between urban Sephardim and development town Sephardim. The main explanation of the gap in education, write the compilers of the study, is the low socioeconomic status of the development town population. There is a negative migration from the towns; those with a higher level of education leave when they can.

Based on the data of the study, one gets the impression that aside from the development towns, the narrowing of the ethnic gap is taking place of its own accord, and regulating itself without need for outside intervention. Education of the parents is rising, and with it the education of the children; the size of the Sephardi family is diminishing, as the level of education of the children is increasing; Sephardi high-school students prefer the academic track over the vocational track, thereby ensuring their chances of a bagrut certificate and secondary-school studies.

Professor Friedlander estimates that the gaps among children born in the 1990's - when they reach high school, matriculation and university in the years 2010-2015 - will be minute, and he has no doubt that the academic colleges, which were not included in this study as they were only beginning at the time, will provide a springboard to closure of the gap in the transition to higher education.

The bad news is that in spite of the narrowing of the gap in high-school education, there are indications of a new trend of a gap in how the students read the labor market. Friedlander, who will be featuring the subject in his next research study, says, "There is a very basic difference between Sephardim and Ashkenazim in the choice of what they study in high school. We feel that students of Asian and African descent do not always study the `right things' in terms of the needs of the labor market or future income. Admission to universities is now very much conditional upon knowledge of English and mathematics, but the percentage of Israelis of Asian and African descent who take enriched English and mathematics in high school is very small in comparison to Israelis of European and American descent. I would say that there is no difference in quantitative exposure to high-school study, but there is a significant difference, I'm afraid, in what they study, and this of course has an effect on admission to university."

Points to Ponder

What does the research say about charges of racism leveled against Israel?

How does this study portray Israel's social structure?

What can we learn about the success of Ethiopian "absorption" experience from this study?