Ethno/racial affiliation, trust, and identification in higher education: the mediating role of perceived injustice in the classroom

Abstract

The present study contributes to a vast body of empirical research on the importance of the sense of justice in education. It examines the mediating role of perceived injustice (grades and lecturer-student relations) in ethnic/racial differences concerning trust and identification. The focus is on an ethnically and racially mixed higher-education institution in Israel which provides a venue for the encounter of three distinct and otherwise insular groups of students: Ethiopian-Jews, non-Ethiopian Jews; and Arabs holding Israeli citizenship. The study argues that higher-education institutions' educational features may be conducive to fostering a sense of justice in the classroom, which ameliorates ethnic/racial rifts by promoting trust and identification. A sample of 700 Israeli university students was examined using Structural Equation Modeling. Findings partially support the study’s main argument.