Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to examine what the key issues that have contributed to situate several Israeli universities in high positions in the world ranking of universities are. Tertiary education is characterized in Israel by a dual education system, both from an internal (university-colleges) and from an educational perspective, with the arrival of foreign students. The keys to explain the success of universities in Israel are: (1) the coexistence of a dual system; (2) the intensive use of technology and informal-formal learning; (3) the early-childhood education; (4) the implementation of a very strict selection process; (5) the creation of a system based on efficient public expenditure on education; (6) the increasing role of women in education; and (7) the constant improvement of teachers. After having analyzed the Arab-Israeli and the ultra-Orthodox problems, the authors conclude with an outlook for the future.
TopTertiary Education In Israel: Organization And Characteristics
Education systems vary considerably around the globe, including the duration of courses and seminars, the different ages at which students begin and end each phase of schooling, and what students study. As these variations complicate the compilation of internationally comparable statistics on education, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) created an International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), revised in 1997 and 2011, which provides a basis for comparing different education systems. In this work, in order to study the Israeli Tertiary education system, we will focus on ISCED 5, subcategories 5A and 5B included, and ISCED 6, both defined in Table 1.
Table 1. The research budget in Israeli universities
| Scientific publications, weighted by impact factor | 34% |
| Grants from competitive research funds | 34% |
| Grants from other research funds | 15% |
| Doctoral students | 15% |
| Recipients of Master’s Degree – with thesis | 2% |
| Total | 100% |
Source: Trajtenberg (2012)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Mifgash (plural, Mifgashim): Hebrew term that refers to a planned educational in-person meeting of Jews who live inside and outside of Israel to enhance the level of social interaction between Diaspora and Israeli Jews.
Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox): They are the most theologically conservative stream of Orthodox Judaism being characterized by their extreme conservative clothes, ideas, beliefs, and customs,, as they view themselves as the most religiously authentic custodians of Jewish religious law and tradition. Because of its high birth rate, the Haredi will double by 2030. Because they are very poor, they receive grants, subsidies, State, and private charity.
VET (Vocational Education and Training): Known as ‘Further Education’ in the United Kingdom and ‘Continuing Education’ in the United States, it prepares trainees for manual and practical jobs.
PISA (Program for International Student Assessment): First performed in 2000, and repeated every three years, it consists of a research and worldwide OECD study to analyze the educational performance of 15-year-old secondary school students on mathematics, science, and reading.
Tertiary Education: Also known as post-secondary education, it includes universities, distant learning centers, colleges, technical training institutes, nursing schools, and research laboratories.
Business Incubator: Type of organization in which universities and enterprises collaborate to create and implement newly born companies ( start-ups ) in their first years of life.
Arab-Israeli: Non-Jewish and Arab speaking Israeli citizens, mostly belonging to the Sunni branch of Islam. There is a significant Arab Christian minority, as well as Druze, among other religious communities. Most of them have Modern Hebrew as their second language.
Kibbutz: Type of organization created in 1909 defined by being a collective community traditionally based on agriculture.