Universities in Israel: Dilemmas, of growth, diversification and administration

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Abstract
Roots and background of the Israeli university: the Hebrew University (1925) and the Haifa Technion (1924) reflect the twin roots of Israeli HE, the revitalisation of Jewish culture and the Zionist programme of building up the country physically. Germany provided the academic models for both institutions. The emphasis was on research; there was little need for professional training since many immigrants were already well qualified professionally. The American private university provided the organisational model. The emergence of a university system in the fifties and sixties: five more institutions were founded between 1949 and 1972; they tended to imitate each other, and the two older institutions, in style. The universities had to adapt to the educational needs of a steadily increasing number of students. The research tradition, however, remained strong. Students emerging from the selective Israeli high school system also appreciated the value of research. The country, however, was too small to sustain up-to-date research institutions on its own. Israel was able to benefit from American aid and many research workers received part of their training abroad. The institutional structure of the Israeli university: Israel's involvement, through American aid, in a cosmopolitan system of learning enabled her universities to avoid the utilitarian approach of first degree and professional mass higher education and retain a commitment to research. Academic appointments are based on research attainments and publications, and institutions are marked by academic self-government. The academic profession and research: the growth of the academic profession in Israel since 1948 has been one of the most rapid in the world. The fact that many Israeli research workers have done part of their training abroad has ensured that there was little need to recruit directly from abroad or by lowering standards at home. It has also reinforced the research tradition of the Israeli university, although some of the best research work undertaken by Israelis is done abroad. The higher education system cannot support seven research universities, yet each is organised as a research university. This perpetuates dependence upon foreign universities as research centres. There is a need for more emphasis on teaching as a career in higher education. Students and studies: the transition between school and university for those academically qualified is relatively easy in Israel. Degree courses in professional subjects, however, are oversubscribed. The system worked well until the early sixties since those matriculating were a select group with intellectual interests. Student numbers have since increased and student interest has changed. Universities have responded by developing professional studies. The changing character of the student body and of career opportunities has developed since 1963 a flexible programme of studies for the Israeli first degree. Since the end of the rapid growth in student numbers in 1972/73, universities have tried to attract students by satisfying student demand for the development of professional courses. The oversubscribed professional courses are able to take the best students, which results in the most able students being taught in departments which do not present them with an intellectual challenge. The basic disciplinary departments, where most of the research workers teach, are full of students who cannot cope with the intellectual challenge. The decline in student numbers means that these disciplinary departments cannot recruit staff, which in turn threatens their research programmes. It is suggested that a change in the student selection process would redistribute talent between the professional and the disciplinary departments. The present academic score system should be used to establish a student's suitability for study, but places should then be allocated by lottery and/or by social considerations. Satisfying student demand for professional purpose in their degrees could be achieved by changing the educational attitudes of students and teachers. Students should be shown how academic disciplines prepare for work. First and second degree studies should be analysed to show their relationship to the careers for which they might be useful. The example of teacher training is given. The way the system works: there is now a need for diversity in academic styles and traditions. The higher education system has been starved of funds for several years. Because of strong traditions of academic self-government, there are no professional academic administrations in Israel. This discourages academic planning. In the smaller universities of the past, academic leadership could emerge. Now excessive participatory democracy prevents this, and it has become difficult, since the expansion of the universities has halted, to shift resources from one unit to another. There is growing support for establishing effective planning and policymaking on the university and national levels. Higher education and Israeli society: access to HE has never been a political issue in Israeli society because universities admit all minimally qualified candidates. 20% of 21–24 year-olds in 1976/77 were receiving university education, and 30% some form of HE. HE is not a source of class or economic privilege in Israeli society. Students enter HE after military service. They receive little support from the state; the majority combine work with study. The rewards of an academic career are also limited, which has helped to preserve elements of the traditional Jewish attitude to sacred learning. The low rewards of academic study help to explain the difficulty in recruiting students from Afro-Asian backgrounds.

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