Israel’s Arab sector high schools: An island of gender dominance in STEM subjects

Despite the global decline in the number of girls who study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, in Israel, gender differences of physics students are especially worrying. Although girls and boys in junior high school reach similar achievements in physics, the number of girls who study physics in high school is declining. However, an interesting picture emerges when we compare the Arab and Jewish sectors: Girls account for 30% of all high school students who study physics in the Jewish sector, compared to almost 60% in the Arab sector. Interviews with Arab high school students in an advanced physics program indicate that although girls face internal and external obstacles in patriarchic Arab society, they transform these obstacles into factors that motivate them to greater achievements, in order to gain self-confidence and a more stable, promising economic future in their society. These findings challenge conventional theories that explain the gender gap in STEM subjects