STUDENTS, SCHOOLS, AND ENROLLMENT IN SCIENCE AND HUMANITY COURSES IN ISRAELI SECONDARY-EDUCATION

This article examines the deteriorating status of the humanities and s ocial sciences versus mathematics and the sciences in the curriculum o f Israeli high schools. We examine this tendency by conducting a multi -level analysis of the effect of school and individual characteristics on inequality in curriculum specialization on a sample of academic-tr ack 12th-graders in 1989. The,main findings ale (a) more able students , males, and members of the privileged Jewish ethnic group in Israel t end to specialize in mathematics and the sciences, and (b) students' c haracteristics ale the major determinant of course-taking in mathemati cs and the sciences, whereas school policy is central regarding the hu manities and social sciences. The article discusses social implication s of the findings.