Efforts to expand gender-segregated courses in Israeli higher education risk harming the country’s academic standing, while failing to benefit the people they were designed to help, according to critics.
Last month Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed legislation that will allow universities to offer segregated master’s and doctoral programmes, building on a 2021 High Court ruling that allowed gender segregation in undergraduate degrees – aimed at integrating ultra-Orthodox Jewish students into higher education and the workforce.
Although the previous legislation was established for Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) students only, the new rules expand the option of taking a segregated course to all students.
Five members of the Council for Higher Education quit in response to the new law and the Council of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities said it “constitutes a grave historic mistake whose consequences will be felt for generations”.
Critics have also warned that the change is reflective of an increasingly politicised environment for Israeli higher education as the country heads towards crucial parliamentary elections in October.
