Segregation, Tracking, and the Educational Attainment of Minorities: Arabs and Oriental Jews in Israel

Abstract

In recent cohorts, Arab-Israeli men attend post-secondary schools at higher rates than Oriental Jews. This pattern has emerged despite the socioeconomic disadvantage of Arabs, the small share of resources allocated to Arab education, and government efforts to advance the attainment of Oriental Jews. Two explanations for this pattern are tested and corroborated: First, Arabs benefit from a separate school system, whereas Oriental educational levels are depressed because of competition with more privileged European-origin Jews in an integrated school system. Second, at the secondary level Oriental Jews are tracked disproportionately into vocational tracks which divert them from college education, while in the segregated Arab system secondary education is predominantly college preparatory. The paper concludes by suggesting that tracking, used to separate ethno-cultural groups within a school system and depress their educational attainment, is not "necessary" when the groups are residentially segregated, when more direct means of social exclusion can be employed, and when members of the dominant group are shielded from minority competition in the job market.