Higher Education and Political Attitude Change Is Israel the Exception that Proves the Rule Kenneth D Wald Danielle Feinstein Literature Widely reported finding on liberalization of political attitudes associated with higher education Newcombs Bennington studies ID: 303939
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Higher Education and Political Attitude Change: Is Israel the Exception that Proves the Rule?
Kenneth
D. Wald
Danielle FeinsteinSlide2
LiteratureWidely reported finding on liberalization of political attitudes associated with higher education (Newcomb’s Bennington studies)Generally attributed to peer groups and/or classroom experienceSlide3
Israel as a Deviant/Hard Case?“Religion of National Security” long predates adult statusMilitary service likely to determine viewsAlmost universal experienceSubstantial responsibilityNational rite of passageHence, low probability of influence during higher educationSlide4
Remarkably little researchA few studies of military service with very limited impactOnly one study of political attitudes among university students – impact of childhood organizationsAssessing impact of either institution difficult due to selection effectsSlide5
MethodSurvey of Haifa University students using venue sampling methods (n=276)Screened for military service before and after surveyCompared students in their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year of undergraduate and any year of graduate studyControls for selection effects by holding constantSlide6
Dependent VariablesTolerance toward Israeli Arabs (Palestinian Israelis) Core issue of tolerance in Israel & cross-national researchMulti-item scale based on Seligson & Caspi with high reliability (alpha = .91)Attitude to Israeli-Arab ConflictKey existential issueMulti-item scale based on Arian with high reliability (alpha = .78)Slide7
ModelKey independent variable is years of educationControls for variables related to both university attendance and attitudes – ethnicity, gender, religiosity, kibbutz, major, age, friendship networks, security orientationUsed OLS modelSlide8
Key findingsPositive (significant) relationship between years of schooling and both tolerance & dovishnessFor both measures, an approximately 1 point increase in tolerance for each year of higher educationLimited influence of controlsSlide9
Alternative hypothesesDifferential Dropout: More hawkish and intolerant students leave universitySpuriousness: Largely a function of graduate studentsSocial Desirability: Students learn politically-correct views with more experience