Higher Education 29:351-368, 1995. �9 1995 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

University education, credentialism and social stratification among Palestinian Arabs in Israel

ANDRI~ ELIAS MAZAWI School of Education, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.

Abstract. Few attention was devoted to the relative impact exerted by differential university access and credentialing patterns on the intrasocial stratification of subordinate groups. The paper investigates the issue among Palestinian Arabs in Israel, along religious, socioeconomic and gender lines, as well as in comparison to respective trends of the Jewish majority. Findings suggest that, while inequalities in access, retention and graduation rates at university level persist between Jews and Palestinian Arabs; for the latter, the combined effects of labor-market structure and regulative sectorial state policies, have determined considerably the relative impact of social group of origin on university enrollment, retention and graduation rates. The various implications of these findings are then discussed, urging further, and more elaborate, research into their socioeconomic and political consequences.

Introduction

In multiethnic plural societies, differential access opportunities to education, and unequally distributed credentialing ratios, are powerful reproductory mediators of interethnic and social disparities (Attinasi 1989; Boudon 1974; Collins 1979; Taylor 1993). The institutionalization of unequal opportunity structures - for example, at the level of state bureaucracies and the educational system - considerably affect the relative access of various social groups to educational credentials (Bourdieu 1989; Attinasi 1989). Moreover, segregated labor-market structures determine, to a large extent, the conversion value such educational credentials may have for various social groups (Bills 1988; Breen & Whelan 1993).

The expansion of university education, and subsequently university credentials, play a major role in fostering existing patterns of social stratification (Bowen 1992). However, the contribution of university education to social stratification was addressed, as far as the relation between dominant and subordinate social groups was accounted for (Loo & Rolison 1986). Less attention was devoted to the relative impact exerted by differential university access opportunities on social stratification within subordinate groups. In fact, major conflict theories have elaborated extensively on the reproductory mechanisms through which the dominant groups undertake the reproduction of their status through the educational process (Lynch 1988; Lynch 1990; Nash 1990; Petitat 1987). Yet, such elaborations do not comprehensively conceptualize the effects of schooling and credentialism on the intrasocial fabric of subordinate groups. In this respect, Yogev & Shapira (1987) have argued that credentialing processes occur in the first place within the dominant ethnic groups. In a second phase, such processes are generalized towards subordinate ethnic groups as well, as part of an ongoing cooptation process which aims to sustain and reproduce the dominant groups' social status (ibid.). However,

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for such a generalization process to be effective, it must be mediated by the differential impact reproductory mechanisms exert on the intrasocial fabric of subordinate ethnic groups. Such differentiation persists in the form of different mobility structures available for different social strata within the subordinate group. Thus, the generalization of credentialing processes lowers the reproductive value of credentials within the dominant group and intensifies it within the subordinate group (ibid.). This inevitably leads to increased social differentiation and fragmentation within the subordinate group. In the long run, a reshuffling in the class alignment structure as a whole occurs, repositioning, and redefining social affiliation both at the intra- or intergroup levels.

The present paper will investigate the relevance of this conceptualization to the case of university education among Palestinian Arabs in Israel. 1 Few insights are available as to the impact of university education and credentialism on the intrasocial fabric of this subordinate ethnic minority. Since the 1970s, the expansion of university education in Israel (Troen 1992) has lead to an intensive credentialing process which considerably affected the characteristics of the Israeli labor force (Yogev 1992; Yogev & Shapira 1987).

Yet, few studies investigated the dynamics of this process within the Palestinian society in Israel. Critical questions arise in this respect:

First, was the expansion of university education equally distributed within the Palestinian Arab society in Israel? Secondly, to what extent did differential access rates to university education, and consequently to credentials, affect the relative reproductory power of various groups within the Palestinian Arab society? Thirdly, to what extent credentialing processes affected the relative position of Palestinian Arabs, as a subordinate ethnic minority, within the broader Israeli labor-market?

These questions, while focused on the case of Palestinian Arabs in Israel, have a wider theoretical pertinence. A central aspect they may clarify concerns the modality through which social change and the reproduction of social inequalities are interwoven, being deeply affected by structural characteristics of subordinate groups and, in the same time, by the sociopolitical context in which they evolve.

Palestinian Arabs in Israel: A sociological profile

Palestinian Arabs in Israel numbered, in 1992, about 800 thousands, or about 16 percent of the total Israeli population (State of Israel CBS 1993c). Palestinian Arabs in Israel, in contrast to Palestinian Arabs in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, are citizens of the State of Israel. They constitute a subordinate ethnic group within a state system defined, by the Jewish dominant majority, along ethnic and ideological lines, as a Jewish and Zionist State (Courbage 1993; Kretzmer 1990; Zureik 1979). Officially referred to as "non-Jews" (or as "minorities"), Palestinian Arabs have been denied access to various state mechanisms (Smooha 1985) and to various sectors in the labor-market and the national economy (Haidar 1990; Khalidi 1988).

The Palestinian Arab society in Israel is constituted of three major religious

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groups: Muslims (about 76%), Christians (about 15%) and Druze (about 9%) (State of Israel CBS 1993c). These groups differ among themselves in their relative integration within the Israeli state system, in selected socioeconomic variables and in their occupational structure. Christians are more urbanized and have a higher average number of years of schooling compared to the other two groups. Christians tend to be more active in the services sector and the bureaucracy. Muslims and Druze have a relatively more emphasized rural background and, on the average, lower literacy rates compared to Christians (Kraus & Hodge 1990; Shavit 1992). Further, Druze have been coopted, as a community, by the Israeli state system (Lustick 1980). Druze serve in the Israeli armed forces and have considerably increased their labor opportunities compared to Muslims and Christians, particularly in the domain of defense-related industries (Kirschenbaum & Goldberg 1992).

About 55% of all Palestinian Arabs in Israel live under what is defined by the Israeli National Insurance Institution as the "Poverty Line" (Sa'di 1990). According to various socioeconomic indexes, this population shares the major features of a developing society (Zureik 1988).

Data and data limitations

Data. No comprehensive historical database has been established for university students in Israel. The paper's data are derived from two major sources. First, most of the data are derived from official statistical publications of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (or CBS). Since the 1960s, the CBS has occasionally published frequencies and relative percentages about four major categories relevant for the issue under investigation: (a) university candidates, (b) university students, (e) university graduates, and (d) characteristics of the labor force. Statistical information refers to three selected sets of variables: (a) Social origin variables, such as father's education, district or type of residence; (b) Group affiliation variables, such as ethnicity, religion and gender; (c) institutional variables, such as university affiliation, field of study pursued and field of graduation. The data are aggregated and are presented in selected tables.

The second source of information is derived from labor and policy studies undertaken since the mid-1980s [cf. references list]. Such studies contributed extensively to clarify major inter-relations between credentialism and labor-market characteristics in Israel. Other studies have contributed to elucidate how institutionalized structural features of the Israeli labor-market differentially mediate the relative value of credentials for various groups.

Data limitations. The data used in the present paper have several limitations. First, CBS data are usually presented in percents out of a total N. Therefore, when absolute numbers are given in the present paper, they usually are estimates extracted from the total population N. Secondly, the category "Palestinian Arabs", used by the present author, does not appear as such in official CBS publications. The CBS uses the term "non-Jews". All Palestinian Arab students in Israel are included in the "non-jews" category. However, it may be that a marginal number of

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non-Israeli-non-Jewish students is included as well. The CBS has no assessment as to their relative percentage due to limitations imposed on its own database. Nonetheless, the majority of such students are finally entered within the "not known" category regarding their ethnicity and not in the "non-Jews" category. 2 Thirdly, data collected after June 1967 may only rarely include some cases of Palestinian Arab students from the Israeli-annexed territory of East Jerusalem, mainly isolated cases of students for post-graduate degrees. This is so given the fact that East Jerusalem Palestinian Arabs graduate from high schools with a Jordanian matriculation certificate and are enrolled mainly in Palestinian universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip or in the Arab world. Moreover, East Jerusalem Palestinian schools do not teach Hebrew, the official medium of instruction in Israeli universities. Fourthly, post-June 1967 data may include some cases of Syrian Druze students from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Within the structure of the present data, there is no possibility to assess their relative percentage, as marginal as it may be. Syrian Druze in the Golan Heights, in contradistinction with East Jerusalem Palestinians, follow Israeli curricula (Shmuel 1990). Based on the above, it could be postulated that the core of the "non-Jews" category used by the CBS is composed of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, and may only marginally include a certain percentage of "non-Palestinian Arab" students. The inclusion of the latter may affect the general trends only insignificantly, without distorting the general picture.

Findings

The paper adopts a human ecology approach. Variables are assumed to represent different environmental constructs in terms of socioeconomic status, socializatory processes, and opportunity structures. Further, the paper adopts a historical approach in the interpretation of the data across years.

The findings refer to (I) access to university education; (II) retention and attrition; (III) fields of study pursued; (IV) graduation, and (V) employment opportunities.

Access to University Education

In Israel, universities remain the major suppliers of academic higher education. In 1990-91, the six Israeli universities enrolled 46% of the 171,062 post-secondary students (State of Israel CBS 1993c). This percentage remained relatively stable since the early 1970s despite of the expansion of the non-university sector (Ibid.). However, while the non-university sector has become a viable option for Jewish applicants to higher education institutions, it has remained significantly less so for Palestinian Arab applicants. In 1990-91, Palestinian Arab students in the non- university sector represented less than 2% of the total student population. In the university sector, they constituted around 6% of all university students. About one- fifth of all Palestinian Arab higher education students study in other post-secondary

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Table 1. Palestinian Arab students in Israeli universities*

Academic year Total s tudents Palestinians** Palestinians (October-June) (in thousands) (in thousands) (in percents)

1964-1965 17.18 0.22 1.3

1969-1970 33.38 0.51 1.5

1972-1973 44.36 0.99 2.2

1974-1975 49.85 1.45 2.9

1980-1981 59.93 2.56 4.7

1984-1985 61.15 4.01 6.7

198%1990 67.19 3.90 5.8***

* For all academic degrees (Bachelors, Masters and Doctorates). ** As CBS data by ethnic category is presented in percents, the actual n of Palestinian Arab students is a rough estimate out of the total N of university students (cf. data limitations section, in text). *** Palestinian Arabs constituted about 7% of all first degree students, about 4% of second degree students and about 4% of third degree students. Source: (State of Israel CBS 1993b, c; State of Israel CBS 1986b)

institutions, as compared to about one-third among their Jewish counterparts (State of Israel CBS 1992b; State of Israel CBS 1993c). 3

The estimated number of Palestinian Arab students in Israeli universities increased from about 220 students (or 1.3% of all university students) in the mid- 1960s to about 3.9 thousand at the close of the 1980s (or 5.8% of all university students) (cf. Table 1). However, since the mid-1980s, the relative percentage, and the absolute estimated number, of Palestinian university students in Israel witnesses an annual decrease of about 3-5%.

Enrolhnent at university level among Palestinian Arabs in Israel was, in essence, a markedly rural phenomena due to the previous destruction of the more established urban centers in the 1948 Jewish-Arab war. Until the beginning of the 1970s students from villages accounted for about two-thirds of all university students (State of Israel CBS Series 296; Series 311; Series 354; Series 418; Series 618). In the mid- 1970s, more than 70% of university students had fathers with primary or no education. Of these, 41% dropped before completion of Bachelor degree studies. Since the early 1970s, a decrease in the relative percentage of students from rural areas is noticeable (State of Israel CBS Series 772). By 1989-90, the percentage of Bachelor degree students from Arab rural localities of less than 10,000 inhabitants constituted 39.5% of the total Palestinian Arab Bachelor degree students. Further, their percentage was equal to the weight of rural localities in the general Palestinian Arab population in Israel, 39,7%. On the other hand, the largest Arab urban localities, while containing 21.6% of the total Palestinian Arab population in Israel, were significantly over-represented with 30% of the Bachelor students. By contrast, middle-sized Arab local councils numbering above 10,000 inhabitants, but not having municipal (urban) status, were the least represented compared to their weight in the general population with 38.7% of the Palestinian population and

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30.5% of Bachelor degree students (State of Israel. Ministry of Education and Culture 1993).

Across the years, the percentage of female students increased from 10.3% of the total Palestinian Arab student population in 1967-68 (State of Israel CBS Series 296) to 20.2% in 1976-77 (State of Israel CBS Series 772) and to 36.4% in 1989-90 (State of Israel CBS 1993b). Respectively, the percentage of students aged 19-21 increased from 41.2% in 1967-68 to about 50% in 1989-90 ( Ib id . ) . Yet, in 1989-90, only 2.5% of Palestinian Arabs in the 20-24 age-group were enrolled in universities, compared to 9.7% in the Jewish population; and 0.8% in the 25-29 age-group compared to 7.4% of the respective age-group in the Jewish population (State of Israel CBS 1993c)r These rates remained relatively stable during the second half of the 1980s (State of Israel CBS 1986b Table 22.13, fn. 3).

A careful analysis of available data reveals the existence, and persistence, of significant inequalities in university enrollment rates between Palestinian Arabs and Jews, and among Palestinian Arabs as well.

First, Table 2 presents data regarding the percentage of matriculated academic- track high-school cohorts of 1983-84, 1984-85 and 1985-86, who enrolled in universities within 6 years of their successful graduation. Table 2 reveals that, the percentage is twice as high for Jews compared to Palestinian Arabs. Further, university enrollment among Palestinian Arabs dropped by 5.5% while remaining relatively stable for the respective Jewish group. On the other hand, among Palestinian Arabs, university enrollment dropped by 8.7% for males and 3.9% for females. Notwithstanding, differences between gender groups decreased from 8.9% for the 1983-84 cohort to 4.1% for the 1985-86 cohort. Among religious groups, the sharpest decrease was registered among Muslims (- 10%) and the lowest among

Table 2. Percentage of matriculated academic-track high school graduates who studied in universities within 6 years of their matriculation: A three cohort analysis

Matriculated high school cohort Percent 1983-1984 1984-1985 1985-1986 difference 83-86

Jews -- Total percent* 46.8 47.8 47.0 +0.2

P alestinian Arabs Total percent* 27.1 25.9 21.6 - 5.5

Gender** Males 32.2 29,1 23.5 - 8.7 Females 23.3 22.6 19.4 -3.9

Religion** Muslims 27.6 24.5 17.6 - 10.0 Christians 35.8 34.6 33.9 - 1.9 Druze 14.5 17.4 19.4 +4.9

* Studied in university (within 6 years of graduation) out of total N of matriculated graduates of a given cohort. ** Percent in each group out of the total members of group who matriculated in a given cohort. Source: (State of Israel CBS 1994)

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Table 3. Candidates by result of university application

Academic year 1980-1981" Academic year 1989-1990"*

Jews Accepted*** 78.6% 80.5% Rejected 21.4% 19.5% Total 100.0% 100.0% Total N 25329 20979

Palestinian Arabs Accepted*** 49.5% 46.8% Rejected 50.5% 53.2% Total 100.0% 100.0% Total N 3291 3021

Source: (State of Israel CBS 1986b) ** Source: (State of Israel CBS 1992b) *** Two categories have been combined: accepted and studying and accepted and not studying.

Christians ( - 1.9%). Druze registered, by contrast, a net increase of 4.9% in their university enrollment. Further, while differences between Druze and Christians decreased, differences among the former and their Muslim counterparts increased significantly. It should be noted that Druze entry to universities developed mainly during the second half of the 1970s, due, among other things, to an intensive sectorial state policy. Till then, only one Druze student undertook university studies before 1948, and 11 Druze graduated from universities during the period 1948-67. Since the mid-1970s, however, their number increased by about 12 times and by the second-half of the 1980s, Druze constituted around 15% of all Palestinian Arab university students. Sectorial state enhancement policies were in the form of scholarships, special tuition-free pre-academic programs and the setting-up of a separate Druze education department within the Ministry of Education and Culture, parallel to the Arab education department (Falah 1989).

Secondly, rejection rates of university applicants remained as much as 2.5 times higher, on the average, among Palestinian Arabs compared to their Jewish counterparts (cf. Table 3). Further, not all Palestinian groups enjoy equal admittance percentages. In 1989-1990, for example, admittance percentages were higher for Christians, and lower for Muslims: 54.8% and 40.1% respectively (State of Israel CBS 1993a). 5

Thirdly, data from the 1983 Population and Housing Census show that university enrollment rates among Palestinian Arabs are stratified, in decreasing order, as follows: Christian males, Christian females, Muslim males, Druze males, Muslim females, and Druze females (cf. Table 4).

To sum the major trends depicted above, access rates to university present an interesting interplay between several factors. First, university enrollment rates are higher for Jews compared to Palestinian Arabs. Secondly, rates remain unequally distributed among Palestinian Arabs, along religious, socioeconomic and gender lines. Thirdly, institutional selection procedures further exert a noticeable impact on access ratios among various groups. Fourthly, the decrease in university enrollment rates among Palestinian Arabs, since the mid-1980s, has been drastically felt more

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Table 4. University enrollment of Palestinian Arabs by religion, age-groups and gender (in percents)*

Age-Group 18-24 Age-Group 25-29 Age-Group 30-34

Males Females Males Females Males Females

Muslims 6.0 2.1 3.8 0.6 1.7 0.2

Christians 11.4 8.5 5.7 1.5 2.1 1.2

Druze 2.4 0.6 2.5 0.2 1.0 - -

* Percentage of gender age-group studying in universities. Source: (State of Israel CBS 1986a)

among males than females, and more among Muslims than among Christians. Fifthly, the relative expansion of Druze university enrollment has been affected, to a considerable extent, by sectorial state policies.

Retention and attrition

For those candidates enrolled, attrition rates are higher among Palestinian Arabs compared to their Jewish counterparts. At the end of the 1980s, 36.8% of the former interrupted their studies within 5 years of their enrollment for their Bachelor degree. Among Jewish students of the same cohort this was true for 23% (cf. Table 5). During the second half of the 1980s, interruption percentages increased and graduation percentages dropped among Palestinian Arab students studying for the Bachelor degree, while the opposite trends took place among their Jewish counterparts (cf. Table 5).

In sum, primary inequalities in access opportunities to university education are further magnified through differential retention rates of various social groups. Palestinian Arabs have higher attrition rates compared to Jewish students. Further, increasing interruption percentages among Palestinian Arab students supplement the general decrease in enrollment rates since the mid-1980s. These trends suggest that since the mid-1980s the relative expansion of university education among Palestinian Arabs in Israel has been moderately halted.

Fields of study

The 1970s and 1980s witnessed an increased diversification in the fields of study pursued by Palestinian Arab students. 6 However, since the mid-1980s, their relative percentage decreased in all fields of studies (State of Israel CBS 1993b). Notwithstanding, the internal distribution, by field of study, shows that the primacy of the Humanities, as a study option, was somewhat shattered as enrollment decreased from 57% of the total Palestinian Arab students in 1967--68 to about 36%

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Table 5. First year students* by status after five years

Control Entry year year Graduated Studied Interrupted Total

PNestiniarlArabs

1980-1981 1984-1985 50.2 17.7 31.8 99.7 1982-1983 1986-1987 48.8 16.7 34.5 100.0 1984-1985 1988-1989 48.5 14.7 36.8 100.0

Jews

1980-1981 1984-1985 60.2 11.4 28.5 100.1 1982-1983 1986-1987 60.2 10.8 29.0 100.0 1984-1985 1988-1989 67.7 9.3 23.0 100.0

* For Bachelor degree. Source: (State of Israel CBS 1992b)

in 1989-90. 7 On the other hand, a significant enrollment increase took place in the fields of Sciences and Mathematics (from 5.9% to 19% respectively) and Engineering and Architecture (from 5.4% to 10.4% respectively). The fields of the Social Sciences and Medical (mainly paramedical) studies experienced a certain recovery after a considerable decrease in enrollment during the 1970s. By contrast, Law studies witnessed a relative decrease in enrollment rates compared to other fields of study (cf. Table 6).

In sum, Palestinian Arab university students increasingly study in other fields than the Humanities. The orientation towards more technical and scientific fields of

Table 6 Internal distribution of Palestinian Arab students by field of studies (in percents)*

Year Humanities Social Law Medicine *~ Sciences Agriculture Engineering Sciences & Maths & Architecture

1967-8 57.0 17.3 6.4 7.2 5.9 0.8 5.4

1968-9 55.2 15.2 6.1 6.6 9.8 1.4 5.7

1969-70 56.0 14.3 6.2 6.1 9.8 1.5 6.1

i970-1 55.9 12.6 7.9 5.9 9.7 1.0 6.9

1971-2 48.1 13.6 9.0 6.5 11.4 1.8 9.6

1972-3 49.5 13.4 7.3 6.7 12,7 1.5 8.9

1973~4 45.3 12.8 7.0 7.0 18,0 3.1 6.7

1974-5 48.2 14.9 4.5 6.3 18.4 1.8 5.8

1984-5 36.9 19.4 2.5 8.9 18,1 1.2 13.0

1989-90 35.9 20.9 3.2 10.4 19.0 1.3 10.4

* Percents add up in rows (100.0%). ** Includes mainly paramedical fields of study. Source: (State of Israel CBS Series 296; Series 311; Series 354; Series 418; Series 618; State of Israel CBS 1991; State of Israel CBS 1992b)

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study has substantially intensified since the mid-1970s, indicating that university education is increasingly identified with liberal and highly-professional jobs.

Graduation

The relative expansion of higher education enrollment among Palestinian Arabs was visible in the percentage of individuals having 16 years of schooling and over. The percentage rose from 0.4% in 1970, to 2.2% in 1980, to 3% in 1990 and to 3.4% in 1992 (State of Israel CBS 1993c). Further, the estimated number of graduates from Israeli universities increased by 2.75 times between the mid-1970s and the beginning of the 1990s at the Bachelor degree level, and by 3.24 times at the Master degree level (cf. Table 7). 8 The relative distribution between Bachelor and Master degrees remained considerably stable, with about 85% of the graduates obtaining a Bachelor degree (cf. Table 7).

The internal distribution of graduates shows that the Humanities, Law and Agriculture have experienced a relative decrease as compared to a relative increase in the fields of the Social Sciences, Medical (mainly paramedical) Studies, the Sciences and Mathematics, and Engineering and Architecture (cf. Table 8, above line figures).

At the end of the 1960s, females accounted for 11.5% of Palestinian Arab graduates, as compared to 46% among Jewish graduates (State of Israel CBS Series 694). By the late 1980s, females accounted for about a quarter of all Palestinian

Table 7. Distribution of Palestinian Arab university graduates by degree

First degree Second degree Third degree

Year Total Thereof: % Total Thereof: % Total Thereof: % graduates Arabs Arabs* graduates Arabs Arabs* graduates Arabs Arabs*

3.0 2.0 4.2 1974-5 6653 200 1244 25 263 11

84.7 10.6 4.7

3.3 2.2 0.7 1978-9 6276 207 1640 36 273 2

84.5 14.7 0.8

3.5 3.1 1.3 1980-1 6867 240 1631 51 355 5

81.1 17.2 1.4

4.7 2.9 1.7 1984-5 8113 381 2140 62 356 6

84.9 13.8 1.3

5.4 2.9 3.7 1989-90 10192 550 2790 81 450 17

84.9 12.5 2.6

Above line: Percent Palestinian Arab graduates from total graduates in relevant degree. Below line: Percent Palestinian Arab graduates in degree from total Arab graduates in relevant year. Source: (State of Israel CBS Series 603; Series 663; State of Israel CBS 1992a)

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Table 8. Distribution of Palestinian first degree graduates by field of graduation * (in percents)

Year Humanities Social Law Medicine** Sciences Agriculture Engineering & Sciences & Maths Architecture

53.7 12.6 9.5 2.1 8.9 7.9 5.3 1974-75

5.7 1.3 4.5 4.4 1.9 7.8 0.7

49.8 16.7 2.5 16.7 3.8 10.5 1981-81

6.6 1.8 1.9 5.1 3.0 1.9

33.5 21.7 3.9 10.1 16.2 2.3 12.4 1984-85 - - .

5.7 3.7 3.0 10.2 5.2 2.7 4.1

41.0 20.1 3.8 10.6 11.9 2.5 10.1 1989-90

8.5 3.4 4.4 7.5 5.7 8.0 3.2

* Above line: Percentage from Palestinian Arab graduates. Below line: Percentage from total graduates in field of studies. ** Mainly paramedical. Source: (State of Israel CBS Series 603; State of Israel CBS 1992a)

Arab graduates (A1-Haj 1988). Female percentages were higher at the Bachelor degree level as they accounted for 38.1% of all Palestinian Arab Bachelor degree graduates in 1989-90 (State of Israel CBS 1992a). Further, the age structure of Bachelor degree graduates in 1989-90 shows, that the Median age for Jews was 27, and for Palestinian Arabs 24.1 (Ibid.).

The internal distribution by study and graduation fields shows, then, that a growing percentage of Palestinian Arabs, both males and females, graduate in fields related to infrastructure development and the liberal professions. This increasing credentialing suggests the formation of an ever larger pool of young Palestinian Arab professionals (the majority below 25 years of age) in various fields pertinent to economic and social development.

Employment opportunities

Several surveys undertaken since the early 1960s reveal that Palestinian Arab graduates face a consistent occupational distress (Rekhess 1974; A1-Haj 1988). The majority of graduates are coopted into the Ministry of Education and Culture and employed in the educational system. In 1978-9, about 67% were employed as educational workers - mainly teachers, compared to 21.5% of their Jewish counterparts (State of Israel CBS Series 694). The centrality of the educational system as an employment channel was still visible in the late 1980s: about 39% of Palestinian Arab university graduates were employed as teachers, compared to about 15.5% of their Jewish colleagues (A1-Haj 1988). The teaching profession remains the major job outlet for a considerable part of Palestinian Arab university graduates in an ethnically stratified Israeli labor-market (Wolkinson 199l). In fact, "the increase in Arab university graduates has resulted in deterioration in their

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employment prospects" (Shavit 1990). Such a deterioration is paralleled by greater unemployment among educated Palestinian Arabs in Israel, and results in a greater mismatch between education and social mobility (Kraus & Hodge 1990; Lewin- Epstein 1990). According to Haidar (1990) employment opportunities of Palestinian Arab graduates in Israel experienced two major phases since the late 1960s. Until the end of the 1970s university graduates were relatively more able to integrate within the confined local Arab labor-market in Israel (i.e. mainly within their localities of residence). The enclave position of Arab economy and the low level of competition with the Jewish labor force, facilitated such a process (Haidar 1990; Shavit 1992). The integration of graduates took place mainly in the public services sector. However, starting from the early 1980s, the Arab labor-market in Israel, already characterized by restricted opportunities and limited investment in infrastructure, became increasingly saturated. Its ability to assimilate yet new cohorts of graduates in an ever growing diversity of professions, became increasingly difficult. The ethnic stratification of the Israeli labor-market rendered it difficult for new cohorts of Palestinian Arab graduates to compete over positions concurrent with their credentials. According to Lewin-Epstein (1990), at the start of the 1970s the ratio of Palestinian Arab higher education graduates to available senior positions - within Arab localities - indicated that a shortage in qualified personnel existed. By contrast, at the start of the 1980s the ratio of higher education graduates was 50% higher compared to the local available positions fitting their qualifications.

Consequently, in spite of the expansion of formal educational services within the Palestinian Arab society, an ethnically stratified Israeli labor-market contributed to considerably increase the mismatch between education, occupation and income. Palestinian Arabs in Israel are increasingly compelled to enter positions of lower status and lower income, below the level of their educational achievement (Klinov 1990; Lewin-Epstein 1990; Semyonov & Cohen 1990).

Discussion and conclusions

The above trends suggest that the expansion of university education within the Palestinian Arab community in Israel after 1948 is linked to radical changes in the social perception of education. Education in general (Mazawi 1994), and higher education in particular (Benjamin & Peleg 1977; Nakhleh 1979), are perceived as central tools of social mobility and development. Indicators for this change are found in younger cohorts of applicants, increased female enrollment, and greater diversification in fields of studies chosen. Such a change was, however, mediated by structural, economic and political mechanisms which reduced its anticipated returns in an ethnically stratified Israeli labor-market (Kraus & Hodge 1990). The increase in Palestinian Arab university graduates did not necessarily lead to increased social mobility nor did it lessen socioeconomic disparities between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in Israel. A different trend is rather visible in terms of

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greater mismatch between education and occupation, and consequently income (Klinov 1990). In sum, Israeli universities continuously produce Palestinian Arab graduates whose integration in the national labor-market, in its present ethnically stratified structure, is highly problematic.

The increasing education-occupation mismatch within the Palestinian Arab community may be at the root of the significant decrease in university enrollment since the mid-1980s. It could be argued that, within an ethnically stratified labor- market, university education is apparently losing its appeal as a privileged channel of social mobility. Such an argument, which may fit within Human Capital theory (Hum 1985), could be further corroborated by the fact that less matriculated Palestinian Arabs from successive high school cohorts undertake university studies since the mid-1980s. The argument raised needs, no doubt, a more circumstantial investigation. If warranted, it would elucidate the modality through which the perceived structure of the Israeli labor-market, and its institutionalized selection mechanisms, implicitly shape differential mobility expectations from university education. If so, the Israeli labor-market does not only contribute to the reproduction of economic inequalities between various social groups as has been suggested elsewhere (Haidar 1990; Lewin-Epstein 1990). It also exerts differential impact on the readiness of subordinate groups to undertake university studies, by lowering their perceived anticipated economic returns from university education and university credentials.

The data suggest, however, that not all Palestinian Arab groups are equally affected by the structural characteristics of the Israeli labor-market. In fact, a human ecology approach reveals that economic, political and community factors are at play. The data suggest that Muslims are relatively more vulnerable in this respect compared to Christians and Druze. Downward flows in Muslim access and retention rates at university level have been relatively more dramatic compared to Christians and Druze.

Several explanations could be presented in this respect. First, as mentioned above, due to historical reasons, Christians are, on the

average, more urbanized, enjoy higher literacy rates (Kraus & Hodge 1990), and are relatively more self-employed (Shavit 1992) compared to Muslims and Druze. Urban settings do present a relatively sounder and wider spectrum of job opportunities compared to less urbanized, or rural, areas (Semyonov & Lewin- Epstein 1992). Rural areas often lack basic infrastructure facilities. It may be therefore argued that access and retention rates and ratios of Christians at university level are relatively less affected by economic flaws of the broader labor-market compared to the other two groups. Consequently, the impact of an ethnically stratified Israeli labor-market on the motivation, or financial ability, of Christians to undertake university studies could be assumed to be less critical compared to the other two groups, and especially compared to Muslims. In fact, being more urbanized and self-employed, enables Christians to have a relatively less dependent position in the Israeli labor-market, compared to Muslims and Druze.

As for Druze, the development of a state-initiated Druze sector (Lustick 1980) has contributed to an increase in the need for a Druze academic manpower, whose

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integration could be relatively secured within a sheltered labor-market. Consequently, it may be argued that, sheltered job perspectives, due to regulative state policies, may have contributed to motivate relatively more Druze high school matriculated graduates to undertake university education compared to the other two groups, and especially compared to Muslims.

Muslims, on the other hand, while constituting the absolute majority of the Palestinian Arab community in Israel, enjoy less control over community institutions, revenues and resources. Muslim endowment property (Waq~, and its subsequent revenues, are monopolized and managed by the state, out of the immediate control of the Muslim community. Further, the failure to undertake a comprehensive development scheme of Arab villages An Israel (Haidar 1990) affected most of all the dominantly rural Muslim community. The lack of infrastructure development of rural (Muslim) communities lead such communities to increasingly rely on a commuting labor-force, employed, in lower wages, outside the locality of residence (Kirschenbaum & Goldberg 1992; Semyonov & Lewin- Epstein 1992). The lack of basic infrastructure facilities and services within rural communities have further rendered the professional integration of university graduates an ever more difficult task (A1-Haj 1988). Therefore, it may be argued that the lowering effect of an ethnically-stratified Israeli labor market on the motivation, or financial ability, of matriculated Muslim high school cohorts to undertake university studies, is higher compared to Christians and Druze. Such a conjecture may explain the more dramatic decrease in Muslim access and retention rates at university level since the mid-1980s.

Secondly, the data suggest that differential university admittance and attrition rates further affect the distribution of educational credentials within the Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Higher admittance rates for Christians and Druze, paralleled by higher Muslim university attrition rates, enable mainly Christians, but lately to a much lesser extent Druze as well, to secure higher credential rates (graduates) compared to Muslims. While such a dynamic enables Christians to reproduce their relatively dominant social position, it enables Druze to improve their social position in the long run, thus gradually, but moderately, reducing disparities compared to Muslims and Christians alike.

All in all, university enrollment rates and credentialing patterns, within the Palestinian society in Israel, are differentially affected by the broader structural inequalities between Palestinian Arabs and Jews. Consequently, it is possible to argue that the expansion pattern of university education did not follow a similar path for different groups within the Palestinian Arab community in Israel. In fact, Yogev & Shapira (1987) demonstrated that within the Jewish society in Israel the expansion of educational credentials followed a center-periphery mode, intensifying the reproductive value of credentials within the subordinate groups. In this respect, within the Palestinian Arab subordinate group, the structure of the Israeli labor-market, and the regulative effects of sectorial state policies, have significantly mediated the reproductive value of university credentials. In fact, the combined effects of labor-market structure and regulative sectorial state policies have determined, to a considerable extent, the relative effect of origin on university

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enrollment and graduation rates, retaining Christian advantage, lowering Muslim access, and boosting Druze attainment.

Given the data limitations previously specified, future research should determine, much more precisely, the sources of such differential credentialing patterns and their stratificational and political implications. Indeed, present statistics are far from satisfying. A more systematic data gathering and more elaborate research strategies are urgently required.

Acknowledgement

The present paper is an extensive elaboration of an earlier (and much shorter) version presented at the Third International Conference on University Cooperation With Developing Countries. L'Aquila (Italy): University of L'Aquila, November 7-10, 1993. The earlier version appeared in the March 1994 issue of Higher Education International and in the Deutsche Universitiits-Zeitung. The author wishes to thank the Institute for University Cooperation (ICU) in Rome, for the invitation to address the Conference. The author acknowledges as well the help, provided during data collection at the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), by Mr. Hanan Zackay (Acting Senior Coordinator in the Department of Social Statistics), Mr. Yosef Gidanian (Head of the Education Section) and Mrs. Ora Meir (Head of the Information Branch at the Bureau of the Spokesman). The insights of Advocate Salih Mahammid contributed to clarify certain historical issues. Prompt remarks on an earlier draft by Prof. Abraham Yogev, Head of the School of Education at Tel- Aviv University, are sincerely appreciated and acknowledged, as well as comments of three HE referees. The author alone assumes all responsibility for the paper's content.

Notes

1. Throughout this study, the term Palestinian Arabs will denote patrilineal descendants of Arabs - Muslims, Christians and Druze - residing in British mandatory Palestine prior to 1948 (Heiberg & Ovensen 1993). The term Palestinian Arabs in Israel refers to Palestinian Arabs who reside in this part of British mandatory Palestine on which the State of Israel was gradually established between 1948 and the end of May 1967. Palestinian Arabs in Israel constitute about 15% of all Palestinian Arabs living, mostly as refugees since 1948, mainly in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Middle East and North Africa.

2. Mr. Hanan Zackay, Acting Senior Coordinator. Jerusalem: CBS Head Office. Personal communication. February 22, 1994.

3. The present article does not address the issue of Palestinian students studying in higher education institutions outside Israel (Yogev 1992). No comprehensive statistics are available in this respect. Until the collapse of the USSR, the Israeli Communist Party had regular scholarships enabling Palestinian Arab high-school graduates to study in various Eastern-European and Russian higher education institutions. In 1989, the U.S. Embassy in Tel-Aviv, through congressional enactment, began its own regular university scholarship program for Palestinian Arabs in Israel.

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4. The age structure of Palestinian Arab university students in Israel is relatively younger, compared to their Jewish colleagues. This stems from the fact that, given the Israeli-Arab conflict and its Palestinian dimension, Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel are exempted from military service (ages 18-21 for males and 18-20 for females), while their Jewish counterparts are not. However, the discharge from service doesn't result in higher Palestinian university enrollment rates: First, about 45% of Palestinian Arabs entering Primary 1 graduate from high school at grade 12, compared to 82% in Jewish schools (State of Israel. Ministry of Education and Culture. 1992). Secondly, matriculation rates are significantly lower among Arab high-school graduates: 32.5% of Arab 12 graders, compared to about 58% Jewish 12 graders (Ibid.). Thirdly, as can be noted in Table 3, university applicants' rejection is 2.5 times higher for Palestinian Arabs than for their Jewish counterparts. Fourthly, a variety of pre-service, in-service and post-service programs enable a considerable proportion of Jewish (and Druze) applicants to study as part of the military service, or, re-take some part of their matriculation examinations in pre-academic courses to increase their acceptance chances (Ayalon et al. 1992). Such mechanisms reduce considerably the proportion of Palestinian Arabs that would have been studying at university level.

5. The respective data for the Drnze population was not published. 6. The choice of field of study is determined, at the last resort, by the universities, as applicants register

for several priorities. It could therefore be argued that a distinction should be made between actual field of study and desired field of study and their priority placement. Within the parameters of the present data no control is possible over such distinctions.

7. Again, within the frame of the present data, it is not possible to determine the precise sources of this trend, that is, whether it stems from changes in institutional selection and admittance policies, or from changes in mobility expectations of the students.

8. This trend should not be perceived as conflicting with data presented in Table 5. Table 5 indicates the percentage of First degree students enrolled in selected years by their own status five years later. Table 7 shows the absolute number of graduates, from different cohorts, in a given year. Consequently, while Table 5 presents survival rates for students of three different cohorts, Table 7 indicates the overall number of students who graduated on a given year.

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