MATH AS A GATEKEEPER - ETHNIC AND GENDER INEQUALITY IN COURSE TAKING OF THE SCIENCES IN ISRAEL

Using multilevel analysis on a sample of Israeli academic-track twelft h graders in 1989, the article examines between-school variation in ge nder and ethnic inequality in course taking of two scientific subjects , physics and biology. The main findings are that (I) the sciences are taken less often by students of the underprivileged Jewish ethnic gro up, and this inequality is more acute in schools that use math as a fi lter, and (2) physics is taken more often by males, and biology by fem ales. The gender typing of the sciences is particularly prominent in m ath-oriented schools. The social implications of the findings are disc ussed.