In a practical mood: Studying for a profession in the changing kibbutz

The influence of recent social and economic changes in the Israeli kibbutz on the prolonged stage of youth was examined with respect to higher education. The young people on the kibbutz of the late 1990s appear less moratorial and more instrumental about their future and commence higher education earlier than in previous age cohorts. When starting to study, their educational and professional prospects are crystalized as those of the non-kibbutz student. Most of them opt for academic, degree-granting studies, but a higher percentage than among the general population prefer vocation-oriented colleges to the research oriented universities. In choosing fields of study, they prefer more applied studies like engineering, social services and practical arts and are less likely to choose sciences and the humanities. De-communalization and economic instability of the kibbutz, inadequate preparation in kibbutz high schools for the competitive admission to the universities, exposure to a restricted range of occupations during adolescence, and lack of a cultural tradition supportive of elitist studies may explain this practical mood, more salient among kibbutz women.