Universities as a meeting point with new academic knowledge, society and culture: cognitive and emotional transitions during higher education

Abstract

This paper examines how exposure to a different culture, acquired knowledge and everyday practices at Israeli universities affected the identities of the ‘First Women’ students from the Druze minority who broke gender roles and turned to acquire higher education. The short distance between the Druze villages and the university required a longer and far more complex journey than the women imagined when they decided to study. The paper analyses ways in which the university atmosphere imparts values, norms, knowledge and practices that enable individuals to reassess their identities. Thirty‐four interviews with Druze women, who were the first in their community or their respective villages to obtain higher education, were analysed, allowing a study of the different experiences and various paths of change and their intricate effects on framing identity.