| Summary: | <p>This dissertation offers an exploration of the experiences of Palestinian Arab undergraduate students who possess Israeli citizenship (PAIs) as they navigate the landscape of higher education (HE) in Israel as an ethnonational minority group on campus. While there is some knowledge about the paths of PAIs to HE, there is currently limited research concerning their experiences once they enrol in academic institutions. Adopting an iterative sequential mixed-methods design and consisting of three distinct papers, this research utilises an anti-deficit lens to examine the multifaceted dimensions of the educational journeys of PAI students within the Israeli HE system.</p>
<p>The first paper uses data from focus groups and a survey to investigate the pivotal phase of transitioning into HE for PAI undergraduate students, uncovering a multifaceted experience of academic, physical, social, and cultural disorientation. It suggests that over time, this disorientation transforms into a persistent sense of lagging behind their peers. Within this context, the paper highlights the structural barriers faced by PAI students, originating from larger systemic discrimination in Israel. The findings suggest that these barriers manifest in three key areas: language, age, and finances, hindering their academic progress. Simultaneously, PAI students demonstrate resilience and determination as they strive to succeed despite these challenges. The paper also explores variations among different subgroups of PAI students, illuminating how certain demographic and academic factors shape their experiences.</p>
<p>The second paper adopts Hurtado and colleagues’ (1998) racial campus climate framework as the analytical lens to examine PAI undergraduate students’ perceptions of the ethnonational campus environment at their academic institutions. Findings from the same data used in the first paper indicate that campuses are often viewed as foreign, unwelcoming and segregated with little interaction among different ethnonational groups, forcing PAI students to expend time and energy negotiating their presence on campus. In response to this campus climate, PAI students exhibit resilience by creating pockets of belonging, asserting their identities, and actively contributing to their home communities. They also express a strong desire to bridge the divide with their Jewish-Israeli peers, and to foster connections. Similar to the first paper, this paper explores the differences between PAI students attending research universities and those attending academic colleges.</p>
<p>The third paper examines the challenges encountered by PAI students during times of turbulence and violence, with a focus on the violent events of May 2021, using interviews with students, lecturers, and members of civil society organisations. Through a constructive grounded theory approach, the findings of this research indicate that students’ experiences of various forms of violence led to a concretisation of the wider ethnonational struggle. In response, they describe withdrawing from their campuses both physically and mentally, and mobilising with and in their communities to address the needs that were not met by the official authorities. PAI students’ perceptions of their institutions’ responses to national events are characterised by intense cynicism and accusations of a partial and selective democracy, mitigated by the compassionate individual actions of some faculty members accompanied by practical assistance.</p>
<p>Collectively, this dissertation weaves together a comprehensive narrative that sheds light on the multifaceted experiences of PAI undergraduate students as an ethnonational minority group within Israeli HE. By adopting an anti-deficit lens, this research reframes the discussion, shifting the focus from perceived deficits to students’ capabilities and potential as well as to the proactive steps that HE institutions should take to promote the success and well-being of PAI students. Ultimately, by focusing on this specific minority group, this dissertation contributes to the global discourse on diversity and inclusion in HE as it broadens the understanding of the complex interplay between multiple dimensions of diversity, including ethnicity, citizenship, and socio-political context, and how they shape educational experiences while acknowledging and making space for students’ agency.</p>
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