(Photo: Gary Aidekman)
By Shoshanna Solomon - March 4, 2018
Originally appeared here in the Times of Israel
Arab Israeli women are gradually managing to close the educational and employment gaps with Jewish Israeli women, a new study shows, but the researchers say still more work needs to be done.
The study, by Taub Center researcher Hadas Fuchs, with the assistance of Tamar Friedman-Wilson, shows that the percentage of Arab Israeli women succeeding on the bagrut (matriculation) exam surpasses that of Arab Israeli men, and is approaching that of non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish women. The ultra-Orthodox, with their stress on non-core curricula, traditionally score lower on the exam than their peers.
In addition, there has been an increase in the share of Arab Israeli women pursuing higher education.
Alongside these positive trends, however, some areas still need improvement: Arab Israeli women still mainly pursue careers in the saturated field of education. whereas a much smaller segment studies or pursues work in more lucrative fields such as computers and engineering.
“A more balanced distribution of fields of study and employment among Arab Israeli women would likely lead to better integration into the labor market and is a potential source of growth for the Israeli economy in the coming years,” the Taub Center said in a statement Sunday, released ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8. Read More