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Religions 2021, 12, 453. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060453 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions
Article
Religious and Spiritual Trends among Female Students of
Different Ethnic Origins and Fields of Study at a Secular
Academic College in Israel
Anat Feldman
1,
* and Dikla Barak
2,
*
1
Multidisciplinary Department, Achva Academic College, 7980400 Arogut, Israel
2
Evaluation Department, Achva Academic College, 7980400 Arogut, Israel
* Correspondence: anatf@live.achva.ac.il (A.F.); dikla8677@gmail.com (D.B.)
Abstract: The current study examined trends regarding religion and spirituality among Jewish and
Bedouin female students studying education and sciences at Achva Academic College, a rural sec-
ular college in southern Israel. The Bedouin women all originated from an isolationist traditional
society, vigilantly maintained over many years. Contrastingly, the Jewish women come from a sec-
ular or traditional society, which is not isolationist. Science and education are two completely dif-
ferent worlds of content. Science studies include analytical research, with the students carrying out
experiments in laboratories and within the community, whereas education studies focus on peda-
gogy and transfer of knowledge. The study employed a questionnaire with Likert items regarding
religion and spirituality. We found the Bedouin students were more religious than the Jewish ones,
but spirituality levels were similar. This finding indicated that the Bedouin students have indeed
broken down the barriers to academic education, but still have retained their traditional community
framework. Likewise, we found that the students of science were less observant of religious prac-
tices in comparison to those studying education, but they were similar regarding spirituality and
the theoretical aspects of religion. This finding showed that practical aspects of religion can be a
factor influencing the choice of field of study.
Keywords: religion and spirituality; Bedouin and Jewish female students; education and science in
academia; secular academic college; Israel
1. Introduction
During the twenty-first century, academic research regarding religion and spiritual-
ity and their effect on various groups (ethnic, religious, gender-based, age, and occupa-
tional) has greatly increased.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines religion as “human beings’ relation to that
which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial rever-
ence. It is also commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate
concerns about their lives and their fate after death”. In addition, religion requires estab-
lishment, organization, hierarchy, and places of worship. (Britannica n.d.).
Berry (2000, p. 4) argues that “religion is primarily concerned with theological ques-
tions and whether things are right or wrong”. The psychologists Argyle and Beit-Hal-
lahmi (1975) defined religion as a concept developed by the prophet who founds it. Its
aim is to provide solutions to psychological issues of fear and distress.
Spirituality draws its strength from motives similar to those of religion. Spirituality
also relates to a person’s distress and their desire to belong to some kind of faith group,
but without the strict framework of religion. Spirituality is a mental state of people seek-
ing faith unconnected to a particular religion (Koenig 2008) and it is usual to view it as a
Citation: Feldman, Anat, and Dikla
Barak. 2021. Religious and Spiritual
Trends Among Female Students
ofDifferent Ethnic Origins and Fields
of Study at a SecularAcademic
College in Israel. Religions 12: 453.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060453
Academic Editor: Ece Kaya
Received: 29 April 2021
Accepted: 16 June 2021
Published: 19 June 2021
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu-
tral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institu-
tional affiliations.
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Li-
censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and con-
ditions of the Creative Commons At-
tribution (CC BY) license (http://crea-
tivecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Religions 2021, 12, 453 2 of 16
search for personal happiness within various and less demanding frameworks than those
of religion (Moberg 2010).
In Israel, it is primarily secular individuals and groups who have turned to spiritual-
ity. Some have given modern interpretation to cabbalistic texts, and others discuss reli-
gious-spiritual phenomena such as mediumship, meditation, and doctrines from the Far
East (Goodman and Tabori 2010; Huss 2007; Oron and Ruah-Midbar 2010; Werczberger
2014). Israeli spirituality has broken out of the binary frameworks of religion and secular-
ity and enabled new spaces of identity (Yonah and Goodman 2004).
Many studies have discussed spirituality, especially among students and young peo-
ple, and the current study focuses on this population. These studies showed that US col-
lege students tended to search for spiritual meaning in their lives, and during their period
of study, they abandoned the religious customs with which they came to college (Bryant
et al. 2003). Other research found that one-third of the students seeking counseling in US
colleges reported problems in the areas of religion or spirituality, with their ethnicity and
culture of origin influencing their use of spirituality (Constantine et al. 2006; Graham et
al. 2001; Lopez et al. 2015; Lun and Wai 2015; Stewart and Koeske 2006).
Recently, there has been heightened interest among researchers globally regarding
religion and spirituality among female students, and there is now a rich collection of stud-
ies examining the various aspects of religion and spirituality among female students out-
side Israel. For example, a study that examined the behavior of US college students as
compared to their beliefs found that women, more than men, preferred not to reveal their
spiritual and religious beliefs, and they therefore preferred joining women’s societies on
campus rather than religious organizations. Thus, their religious background and spir-
itual beliefs had relatively little influence on their social activities on campus (Holmes et
al. 2004). It was also found that women of African-American origin had a greater tendency
than European-American women to participate in religious and spiritual activities, help-
ing them adapt to college life and succeed in their studies (Taylor 2002; Walker and Dixon
2002). These findings reinforce studies about children, which found that girls were more
likely than boys to be involved in spirituality and religious practices (Beit-Hallahmi and
Argyle 1997; Francis and Wilcox 1998; Tamminen 1996).
Due to the global interest regarding research on the religion and spirituality of female
students, we decided to focus on the religious and spiritual philosophies of female stu-
dents in Israel.
The current study examined for the first time the attitudes towards religion and spir-
ituality among female students in academia in relation to two variables—ethnic origin
and fields of study. The first research goal was to examine whether a difference exists
regarding attitudes toward religion between female students of different ethnic origins—
Jewish and Bedouin—who are studying the same subjects together, at the same college,
and even in the same classes. The second research goal was to examine whether a differ-
ence exists regarding attitudes toward religion and spirituality between women students
studying different fields—education and science—two different knowledge domains
studied at the same college.
2. Background
2.1. Religion and Spirituality as a Function of Ethnic Origin
2.1.1. The Attitude towards Religion Among Jews and Muslims in Israel
In 2016, the population of Israel was 8,628,600. Of this population, 75% were Jewish,
18% Muslim, and 7% belonged to other religions (Central Bureau of Statistics 2018a). The
Bedouins in Israel, who define themselves as Muslim, comprise less than 4% of all the
Muslims in Israel (approximately 0.7% of the Israeli population), making them an ethnic
minority (Begin 2013; Man n.d.; Swirski and Hasson 2006).
Religions 2021, 12, 453 3 of 16
In 2016, when we carried out the study, 47.5% of Jews aged 20 and over defined
themselves as secular, 26.5% as traditional, 13.8% as religious to very religious, 8.6% as
ultra-Orthodox, and 3.6% as “unknown” (Central Bureau of Statistics 2018b).
Unlike Jews, most of whom are secular, most Muslims are traditional. In 2016, only
12.1% of Muslims in Israel defined themselves as secular, 55.2% as traditional, 29.5% as
religious to very religious, and 3.2% as “unknown” (Central Bureau of Statistics 2018b).
There is no data regarding the religiosity of the Bedouin population, since they are in-
cluded within the broader group of Muslims. However, it is well known that most Bed-
ouins in Israel live in a conservative and isolationist society and reside in cities and neigh-
borhoods where women have careful social supervision (Abu Ras 2012; Kalagy 2012; Rud-
nitzky 2012), which includes preventing them from acquiring an academic education
(Abu-Rabia-Queder 2014; Kalagy 2014–2015; Optalka and Lapidot 2012; Rubin and Novis
Deutsch 2017). Additionally, there are polygamous marriages in around 30% of Bedouin
families, despite it being illegal (Palmor 2018; Spector-Ben Ari 2013).
2.1.2. Education Among Jewish and Bedouin Women in Israel
The socioeconomic status of the Bedouin in Israel is lower than that of the general
Muslim population. The unemployment rate is high, and education levels are poor. Most
live in villages with no infrastructure and receive disproportionately little benefit from
the state budget. The majority are not fluent in Hebrew, the language of instruction in
Israel’s academic institutions. Therefore, most are at low academic levels, limiting their
opportunities for higher education in Israeli colleges and universities. This situation forces
them to study in Arab countries or in the Palestinian Authority. But those who wish to
teach in Israel are required to study for an additional year at Jewish or Arab education
colleges in Israel (Vargon 2012).
Among the Bedouin population, more women than men enter academic education,
but the proportion of Bedouin women in academia is still low relative to Jewish women.
An examination of Jewish, as compared to Muslim, female students studying in institu-
tions of higher education in Israel over 10 years (2007–2017) found that 55% of the Jewish
women graduating high school continued onto academic education, as opposed to 20% of
the Muslim women graduating high school during the same years (Lerer and Avgar 2018).
The sole study specifically referring to the Bedouin population was conducted in 2013 and
found that 76% of Jewish female high school students were entitled to a matriculation
certificate as opposed to 48% of Bedouin ones. The mean psychometric test score for Jew-
ish women was 561 points, in contrast to 406 for Bedouin women. That year, 20.7% of the
Jewish women studied in academia in contrast to 8.6% of Bedouin women. Segmentation
of the types of colleges where the Jewish students studied shows that a majority (40.3%)
attended academic colleges where research knowledge domains are studied, and a minor-
ity (12.7%) attended colleges of education. However, among the Bedouin students, a mi-
nority (20.5%) attended academic colleges where science is taught, and a majority (33.1%)
attended colleges of education. During 2012–2014, 46% of the Bedouin female students
studied education (in academic colleges and universities) and less than one percent stud-
ied sciences, as opposed to 16% of Jewish students who studied education and 41% who
studied sciences.1
2.1.3. Jewish and Bedouin Women Students in Israel and Their Attitudes toward Reli-
gion
Despite the fact that most Jews define themselves as secular, religion has become an
important component of identity in the public sphere of Israeli society (Arian and Keissar-
Sugarmen 2013; Levy et al. 1993, 2002). Although religion occupies an important place in
Israeli society, Israeli research has not focused on the religious beliefs of secular, tradi-
tional, or religious female students but rather primarily on only one stream—ultra-Ortho-
dox female students. Researchers have showed interest in the entry of these students into
academia, against the background of the many years of isolationism of ultra-Orthodox
Religions 2021, 12, 453 4 of 16
society from general Israeli society. Ultra-Orthodox society did not permit its adherents
to study in institutions of higher education, which were perceived as tools of moderniza-
tion and secularization (Baum et al. 2014; Bowman and Smedley 2013; Kalagy 2012; Mal-
ach et al. 2016; Rubin and Novis Deutsch 2017).
Israeli research also has not discussed female Bedouin students’ attitudes toward re-
ligion. The researchers saw this entire population as belonging to a religious, conservative,
and patriarchal society and therefore primarily discussed their attitudes towards modern-
ization and higher education, according to theories of migration. The Bedouin students
are perceived as dual migrants—they bring modernization into their homes and are
thereby considered to be representatives of Jewish secular academia, but they are also
foreigners in the universities and colleges. There they represent the conservative Bedouin
society, maintaining their lifestyle and traditional dress (Abu-Rabia-Queder 2005; Abu-
Rabia-Queder and Weiner-Levy 2008; Sigal 1995). The traditional Muslim garb (long
dresses and tight-fitting head coverings) does not contradict the desire of the youth to
integrate into modernism, but is rather a visual characteristic of ethnic identity (see, for
example the positions of women who chose to demonstratively wear strict traditional
dress and remain in patriarchal societies (Dhruvarjan 2002, pp. 274–94; Korteweg and Yur-
dakul 2014; Preston 2003; Zalcberg Black 2015).
In both these worlds Bedouin female students face many struggles: an objective dif-
ficulty with their studies due to a lack of knowledge of the language (most studied in
Arabic their whole lives and therefore do not have a high standard of Hebrew); large gaps
in their education compared to the Jewish female students; a difference in mentality be-
tween the home, the conservative environment, and the modern values of academia; and
the opposition of their traditional-patriarchal communities to academic education for
women (Babai et al. 2016; Ben Rabi and Hendin 2013; Optalka and Lapidot 2012). How-
ever, despite these obstacles, they learn how to find satisfying and financially rewarding
work (Kalagy 2016, 2017; Optalka and Lapidot 2012).
The current study examined for the first time the attitudes towards religion and spir-
ituality among female Bedouin and Jewish students outside ultra-Orthodox society. The
aforementioned studies showed that Bedouin students originate from a society that is
more religious than that of the Jewish students, and we therefore assumed that their atti-
tudes towards religion and spirituality would be more positive.
2.2. Religion and Spirituality as a Function of Field of Study
The Correlation between Academic Studies in Various Fields and Religion and Spiritual-
ity
An additional research goal was to examine whether there was a difference regarding
attitude toward religion and spirituality between the female students of education and
those studying science.
Studies carried out in the world that have discussed academic studies in the reli-
gious-spiritual context have focused primarily on the correlation between religion and
success in various fields of study as well as employment after graduation. In a study re-
garding attitudes towards religion and academic success, it was found that religious prac-
tices and belonging to religious communities helped mainly students of low socioeco-
nomic standing grapple with their studies (Fagan 2010; Glanville et al. 2008).
Other studies have discussed the importance of religion and spirituality in the life of
students of therapeutic professions. In Great Britain, it was found that social work stu-
dents and social workers claimed it was important that they be educated in religion and
spirituality as part of their professional skills. The social workers also demonstrated em-
pathy towards their clients’ religious and spiritual needs, within the framework of the
professional help (Gilligan and Furness 2006). The study by Sheridan and Amato-von
Hemert (1999) showed that social workers reported identification with courses discussing
religious issues and that the spiritual tools they had acquired helped them in their work.
Religions 2021, 12, 453 5 of 16
Nursing students also argued that their personal beliefs helped them when treating pa-
tients (Lopez et al. 2014). In all the studies cited here, no distinction was made regarding
gender.
Despite the large number of studies on religion and spirituality in the academic con-
text, no study examined the direct correlation between choice of field of study and atti-
tudes towards religion and spirituality. In Israel, not only has the correlation between
these two variables not been directly examined, but no study has even examined spiritu-
ality and attitudes toward religion of students from various fields. In this sense, the cur-
rent study, which examines the difference regarding attitude toward religion and spiritu-
ality between students of education and those studying science, is pioneering.
It would seem that, due to the lack of clear findings on the topic, it is impossible to
hypothesize that one group would have more positive attitudes towards religion and spir-
ituality than the other. Despite this, a directional hypothesis can be assumed by implica-
tion. First, students in therapeutic professions believe religion and spirituality are im-
portant to their profession (Gilligan and Furness 2006). Since education is considered a
therapeutic profession (Grupper 2012; Hillel Lavian 2009; Lahav 2007; Shehory-Rubin
2011; Yakov 2013), it can be predicted that students of education will have more positive
attitudes towards religion and spirituality than students who chose to study scientific
fields, which do not incorporate a therapeutic angle. Second, studies about the historical
conflict between religion and science discuss the opposition of the religious establishment
to new scientific ideas, which are seen as undermining the principals of faith (Berry 2000;
Holtzman 2003; Kaplan 2001; Nelkin 2004). Such a conflict can predict less positive atti-
tudes toward religion and spirituality among students who chose to study scientific fields,
relative to students who chose to study education, which is considered a field that does
not challenge the religious establishment. In accordance with these trends, it was hypoth-
esized that the attitudes toward religion and spirituality among female students of edu-
cation would be more positive than students of science.
2.3. Characteristics of the Achva Academic College
The current study was conducted at Achva Academic College in 2016. Achva is a
secular college, though some of the lecturers and administrative staff are religious. Most
of the college teaching staff is Jewish, and the majority of the Jewish students are secular
or traditional (no study has been conducted on this, and there are no statistical data since
it is unacceptable to ask about beliefs when being accepted at an institution of study).
Achva College is located in the southern part of the State of Israel, making it accessible to
the large Bedouin population living in the Negev, less than an hour’s drive from the col-
lege. About 20 percent of the college students are Bedouin.2
The vast majority of the Bedouin students at the college are the first in their families
to study in an academic institution. Most of these students are moving from strict Muslim
education to modern secular academia and transitioning between traditional Muslim and
secular Israeli lifestyles. All the female Bedouin students dress in strictly traditional Mus-
lim garb but do not cover their faces.
Most Muslims in Israel suffer discrimination emanating from national-political, cul-
tural, economic, and status inferiority compared to Jews (Gharrah 2005, pp. 201–21; Peres
and Ben-Rafael 2006, pp. 52–94; Pew Research Center 2016; Tutari 2009). However, as lec-
turers at Achva Academic College, we can state that there are no expressions of racism
towards the Muslim minority on the part of the Jewish majority in the classrooms and
public spaces on campus.3 There are Muslim members of the students’ union and its ad-
ministration, and the college administration even set up a mosque for them in the base-
ment of one of the classroom buildings.
In Israel, academic colleges are divided into colleges of education and colleges of sci-
ence. Achva is the only academic college in Israel with both schools, education and sci-
ence. The acceptance criteria for the science students are higher than those for education
students, and the status of science students in the Israeli job market is high. Jewish and
Religions 2021, 12, 453 6 of 16
Bedouin students study in both schools, in mixed classes, with the vast majority of the
students being Jewish. There are no dormitories at Achva College, meaning the students
return home after finishing their daily studies. Therefore, there is almost no “campus life”
and the students do not detach themselves from their natural environment.
The Jewish and Bedouin students meet at the college for the first time, and after com-
pleting their studies, these two groups do not maintain contact. Therefore, we view Achva
Academic College as a social laboratory, in which young women study the same modern
academic material together.
As mentioned above, the ethnic composition of the students at the college, which
includes both Jewish and Bedouin female students in both schools (education and sci-
ence), enabled us to examine the students’ attitudes toward religion as functions of ethnic
origin and field of study.
2.4. Research Hypotheses
• The theoretical studies combined with the characteristics of the Jewish and Bedouin
female students at Achva Academic College portray differences between these
groups in relation to religion. The Bedouin students adopt modern values of educa-
tion and equality but remain part of the conservative Bedouin society, as opposed to
the Jewish students, some of whom are secular and some traditional. Thus, the first
research hypothesis was that the Bedouin students would have a more positive atti-
tude to religion and spirituality relative to the Jewish students.
• The theoretical studies combined with the characteristics of the female students at
Achva Academic College can testify to the correlation between field of study and
attitude toward religion. In light of theoretical studies, it can be posited that the field
of education, which is considered a therapeutic field and one that does not contradict
the religious establishment, has higher correlation with a positive attitude towards
religion in comparison to the field of science, which is based on concepts viewed as
being in conflict with the religious establishment. Thus, the second research hypoth-
esis was that the students of education would have a more positive attitude toward
religion and spirituality than the students of science.
3. Method
3.1. Participants
There were 371 female students from the Achva Academic College of Education who
participated in this study. The students were aged 18–42, with the mean age being 23.80
with a standard deviation of 3.64. Distribution of the number of participants in the study
as a percentage of female students at the college according to school and ethnic origin is
displayed in Table 1.
Table 1. The number of female students participating in the study out of the number of female
students at the college, according to school and ethnic origin, in 2016.
Data Achva Students Study Students Percent
Data on the School of Education 1262 184 15%
Number of female students in
the Bedouin stream 291 110 38%
Number of Jewish female stu-
dents 745 74 10%
Data on the School of Science 452 187 41%
Number of female students in
the Bedouin stream 135 0 * 0%
Religions 2021, 12, 453 7 of 16
Number of Jewish female stu-
dents 517 187 36%
* The group of Bedouin female students in the School of Sciences was removed from the study
since only a very small number from this group was sampled (they were initially very few, and
only a minority agreed to complete the questionnaires).
3.2. Research Tools
With the goal of knowing the college students’ attitudes regarding religion and spir-
ituality, we distributed a questionnaire that examined these topics. Our premise, which
corresponds with the study, is that religion and spirituality are concepts encompassing
many values and change in light of several factors. Therefore, the students were not given
a definition of these concepts,4 nor did we ask them to define them, but rather we asked
how they experience spirituality and religion in their daily practices.
The questionnaires included items on subjects related to the religious background of
the female students, their religious outlook, and how, in practice, they experience spiritu-
ality and religious belief. The items were not grouped in subject clusters, but were ran-
domly scattered throughout the questionnaire.
Studies show that people interpret questions in accordance with their own personal
backgrounds. Their background is a “map of variables” through which they understand
reality and answer the questionnaire (Argyris 1985). People from different cultures un-
derstand symbols and concepts differently (Schneider et al. 1993) and will answer the
same questions in a variety of ways (Hambleton 2005; Hambleton and Zenisky 2011;
Harkness 2003). Studies indicate the importance of language in the way respondents un-
derstand and answer surveys (Harzing and Salciuviene 2003). Therefore, the question-
naires were given in Hebrew to the Jewish students and in Arabic to the Bedouin students.
The questionnaire included 35 items with a five-point Likert scale (Likert 1932; Jo-
hanson and Gips 1993; Pratt 1959) ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 5 (“strongly
agree”) (Armstrong 1987; Burns and Bush 2008, p. 250; Dawes 2008). The higher the rank-
ing chosen by the participant for each item, the more positive her attitude toward religion
and spirituality.
The 35 items were divided into six variables: religious home, attitudes towards reli-
gious education, religious behavior, need for communal life, spirituality, and need for Di-
vine assistance.
The variable “religious home” included three items, such as “My family shaped me
to be religious”. The variable “attitudes towards religious education” included seven
items, such as “Religious education damages a person”. The variable “religious behavior”
included three items, such as “I am a person who prays”. The variable “need for commu-
nal life” included six items, such as “It is important for me to belong to a community
where I feel I am a member and where I am well-known”. The variable “spirituality” in-
cluded twelve items, such as “People have both a physical and a spiritual component”.
The variable “need for Divine assistance” included four items, such as “Sometimes I need
a type of help which regular people and means cannot supply me with”.
Table 2 shows the internal reliability of each variable using Cronbach’s alpha meas-
ure and the mean and standard deviation of each variable.
Table 2. Cronbach’s alpha, means, and standard deviations of the questionnaire variables.
Variable Number of
Items
Cronbach’s Al-
pha M SD
Religious home 3 0.86 3.08 1.32
Attitude towards religious education 7 0.85 4.00 0.96
Religious behavior 3 0.83 3.26 1.26
Need for communal life 6 0.64 3.64 0.66
Spirituality/Belief in Divine force 12 0.85 3.64 0.73
Religions 2021, 12, 453 8 of 16
Need for Divine assistance 4 0.83 3.21 1.04
3.3. Procedure
The questionnaires were distributed to the students in their classes in 2016. We en-
tered the classrooms at the beginning of the lesson after previously coordinating with the
lecturers, but without the prior knowledge of the students. We explained the purpose of
the research: to examine their religious and belief characteristics. Inasmuch as such re-
search requires much statistical data in order to reach generalizations and conclusions, we
gathered as much data as possible (Abbott and Barman 1997; Maisel and Hodges Persell
1995).
Most students agreed to answer the questionnaires in the classroom in our presence.
Only a few refused, and they waited outside the classroom while their classmates filled
them out.5 When they had finished, we collected the questionnaires. The students did not
keep them. The questionnaire was filled out by male and female students, but the current
study is based only on the questionnaires filled out by the 371 female students.
4. Results
To examine the two hypotheses regarding differences between the groups (Jewish
and Bedouin female students, and female students of education and of sciences) regarding
their attitudes toward religion and spirituality, two t-tests for independent samples were
conducted for each of the six variables. At the study planning stage, we wished to compare
Jewish and Bedouin students across their fields of study and compare students of educa-
tion and science across their ethnic origins. To achieve this, we needed to sample a similar
number of female Jewish and Bedouin students studying education and a similar number
of Jewish and Bedouin students studying science. However, there were few Bedouin stu-
dents of science at the college, and only a tiny number from this group completed the
questionnaire. For this reason, we were forced to remove this group from the study; thus,
three groups remained—Jewish students of education, Bedouin students of education,
and Jewish students of science. Table 3 displays the differences between the Jewish and
Bedouin female students studying education for each of the six variables examining the
attitudes towards religion and spirituality. Table 4 displays the differences between the
Jewish students of education and sciences for each of the six variables. In both tables, the
higher the mean, the more positive the attitude regarding that particular variable.
Table 3. Means, standard deviations, and the significance of differences in attitudes towards reli-
gion and spirituality between Jewish and Bedouin female students of education.
Bedouin (n = 110) Jewish (n = 74) t
Variable M SD M SD (df = 182)
Religious home 4.36 0.57 2.77 1.16 10.92 ***
Attitude towards religious edu-
cation 4.53 0.75 3.86 0.90 5.35 ***
Religious behavior 4.39 0.69 3.06 1.21 8.56 ***
Need for communal life 3.81 0.69 3.52 0.67 2.80 **
Spirituality/Belief in Divine force 3.62 0.59 3.59 0.80 0.28
Need for Divine assistance 3.72 0.90 2.96 1.14 4.82 ***
** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.
Table 4. Means, standard deviations, and the significance of differences in attitudes towards reli-
gion and spirituality between Jewish female students of education and science.
Education (n = 74) Science (n = 187) t
Variable M SD M SD (df = 259)
Religious home 2.77 1.16 2.45 1.16 1.97 *
Religions 2021, 12, 453 9 of 16
Attitude towards religious edu-
cation 3.86 0.90 3.74 0.98 0.86
Religious behavior 3.06 1.21 2.68 1.10 2.49 *
Need for communal life 3.52 0.67 3.59 0.62 −0.82
Spirituality/Belief in Divine force 3.59 0.80 3.66 0.77 −0.63
Need for Divine assistance 2.96 1.14 3.00 0.97 −0.28
* p < 0.05
Table 3 shows that the first hypothesis, which argued that attitudes towards religion
and spirituality are more positive among the Bedouin students relative to the Jewish stu-
dents, was confirmed regarding most of the variables. It was found that the mean for the
Bedouin students was significantly higher than that of the Jewish students for the varia-
bles: religious home, attitudes towards religious education, religious behavior, need for
communal life, and need for Divine assistance. However, no significant difference was
found between the means for the Jewish and Bedouin students regarding the variable of
spirituality. If we examine the means for the six variables within each group, we will see
that among the Bedouin students, the mean for the spirituality variable is the lowest com-
pared to the means of the other variables. However, among the Jewish students, the mean
for this variable is relatively high compared to the means for the other variables. It can be
said that the difference between the patterns within each group led to similarity between
the means of the two groups regarding only the spirituality variable.
Table 4 shows that the second hypothesis, which argued that attitudes towards reli-
gion and spirituality are more positive among the students of education as compared to
the students of science, was confirmed regarding some of the variables. It was found that
the mean for the education students was significantly higher than the mean for the science
students for the variables of religious education and religious behavior, but no significant
difference was found between the means of the two groups for the variables of attitudes
towards religious education, spirituality, need for communal life, and need for Divine as-
sistance. If we examine the means for the six variables within each group, we will see that
among the students of education, the means for the variables of religious education and
religious behavior are relatively similar to the means for the other variables. However,
among the science students, the means for these variables are relatively low as compared
to the other variables. It can be said that the difference between the patterns within each
group led to the difference between the means of the two groups regarding only the var-
iables of religious education and religious behavior.
5. Discussion
The questions we sought to investigate were whether there were differences between
the Jewish and Bedouin students, and between the education and science students, re-
garding various issues connected to religion and spirituality.
Our study was conducted at the Achva Academic College, a rural college in southern
Israel. There are two primary characteristics that set the Achva Academic College apart
from other Israeli academic colleges: the first is that there is a higher percentage of Bed-
ouin female students studying there than at other colleges, and the second is that it offers
the study of education alongside sciences. Therefore, Achva College serves as a “human
laboratory” for examining the correlation between ethnic origin and choice of field of
study and the attitudes towards religion and spirituality.
Regarding the question of level of religiosity and spirituality as a function of ethnic
origin, for most variables, the findings were consistent with the hypothesis. Among the
female students of education, it was found that the Bedouin students, as compared to the
Jewish ones, received a more religious education at home, had more positive attitudes
towards religious education, and had greater levels of religious behavior, need for com-
munal life, and need for Divine assistance. Unlike the differences between the two groups
Religions 2021, 12, 453 10 of 16
regarding the five variables connected with religion, it was found that the Bedouin stu-
dents’ attitude to spirituality was similar to that of the Jewish students.
The different patterns noted when comparing the groups regarding variables related
to religion, as opposed to the spirituality variable, can be explained by distinguishing be-
tween the concepts of religion and spirituality. Unlike religion, the emphasis in spiritual-
ity is on the search for meaning for a better life in the present, rather than after death, with
spiritual activity not requiring a visible and known establishment or hierarchy of leader-
ship (Eckersley 2007; Luhmann et al. 2012; Vitorino et al. 2018).
When comparing the five variables connected with religion and the spirituality vari-
able in each group separately, it was seen that the Jewish students were more spiritual
than religious, whereas the Bedouin students were more religious than spiritual. For the
Jewish students, spirituality was seen as more appropriate for people who define them-
selves as less religious. They preferred to observe practices identified as spiritual, with
this preference being in harmony with global and Israeli new age trends (Midbar-Ruah
2012, 2014; Werczberger and Kaplan 2019).6 Unlike religion, regarding spiritual practices,
each student can choose the movement most appropriate for her within the broad existing
field, how much she chooses to invest, her commitment to the community, and how and
primarily where and with whom she chooses to observe the practices. Therefore, even
though the Jewish students described themselves as less religious, they did not have is-
sues with spirituality. These findings correspond with studies regarding female students
in American colleges, as mentioned above (see Introduction).
Unlike the Jewish students, the Bedouin students, who came from an extremely con-
servative society, ascribed far more importance to religious beliefs and practices than to
spiritual beliefs and practices. This is because freedom of choice regarding spirituality is
not acceptable in religious communities, particularly not in the strict religious communi-
ties from where the Bedouin students originate. In practice, the Bedouin society in Israel
views non-observance of religious practices as deviation from societal norms.7
It would seem that the more positive view of spirituality as compared to religion
among the mostly secular Jews is equal to the less positive view of spirituality as com-
pared to religion among the conservative Bedouin students. In other words, despite the
fact that the Bedouin students were less spiritual than religious, they were still no less
spiritual than the Jewish students, with both groups indicating moderate to high spiritu-
ality. This pattern testifies to an interesting phenomenon—despite the fact that religion,
including Islam for the Bedouins, views spirituality as deviation from societal norms, the
Bedouin women were not opposed to spirituality. This finding showed a measure of open-
ness of thought, which fits in with modern trends.
Regarding the question of level of religiosity and spirituality as a function of field of
study, the findings were consistent with the hypothesis only for variables expressing prac-
tical aspects of religion, but not for variables expressing the theoretical aspects of religion.
Among the Jewish female students, the students of science, as compared to the stu-
dents of education, grew up in less religious homes and were less observant of religious
practices. The variables religious home and religious behavior both express practical char-
acteristics of religion, but there is not full overlap between them. Religious behavior, the
measure of observing religious precepts in the present, which reflects a broad range of
daily practices that shape lifestyle, did not necessarily indicate the character of the home
where the student was raised, since she could adopt more or less religious practices from
those with which she grew up. Our study actually demonstrated congruence between the
religious character of the students’ homes and their religious behavior as students. The
science students not only came from less religious homes in comparison to the education
students, but also, and most importantly, were less conservative during the time of the
study. These characteristics are needed for scientific research. In contrast, pedagogic work
is employment in a conservative environment, which, more than other professions, tends
to preserve the frameworks determined by regulatory bodies.
Religions 2021, 12, 453 11 of 16
Our study showed that practical religious conservatism goes along with a therapeu-
tic, conformist profession, such as teaching. And its findings correspond with research
that examined the influence of teachers’ religiosity on their motivation to teach, since re-
ligious teachers view education as an important mission (Hartwick 2015).
It appears this is the reason the female students who are more religiously observant
and come from more religious homes prefer to choose areas other than pure scientific
research, such as computers, chemistry, or biology. While they study these fields as part
of their education studies, they do not study them as a research discipline. Science exam-
ines scientific realities, breaks out of frameworks, and seeks new fields of knowledge. Pure
science does not limit itself to predetermined rigid frameworks. Therefore, this is a
knowledge field suitable for less religious students. Our findings indeed correspond with
the non-conservative nature of science.
Unlike the differences discovered between the Jewish students of education and sci-
ences regarding the variables expressing practical characteristics of religion, a similarity
can be seen between the groups regarding the variables expressing the characteristics of
religion that do not demand practical observance by the individual: religious education,
need for communal life, and need for Divine assistance. In addition, the students of edu-
cation and science demonstrate similar levels of spirituality. As noted above, spirituality
and religion have different definitions. However, similar characteristics can be found re-
garding the variable of spirituality and the variables expressing the less practical aspects
of religion. All these variables do not make demands on the students’ daily lives but rather
remain on the ideological-theoretical plane, enabling the students to shape practices that
suit them, adapt to the changes in their lives, or remain solely declarative in ideological
support and favor.
6. Conclusions
This study was pioneering in its examining of the attitudes toward religion and spir-
ituality among female students from different ethnic communities and fields of study.
The study found that among the students of education, the Bedouin students were
more religious than the Jewish ones, but their spirituality level was similar. The moderate-
high spirituality level of the Bedouin students can testify to a level of openness, which led
them to become the first generation of educated women. But it would still seem that de-
spite the fact that the Bedouin students acquired an academic education at a secular col-
lege, they maintained their religious lifestyle. The Bedouin students will be ambassadors
of academia in their tribal society, but it would seem that they will not bring about a great
change. We viewed them as women taking the first step along the long journey of chang-
ing the patriarchal tribal society in which they grew up and to which they will return.
In addition, the study showed that among the Jewish students, the students of edu-
cation maintained more religious practices than the students of science, but had similar
attitudes regarding the aspects of religion that had less of a practical application in their
lives and demonstrated a similar level of spirituality. Our conclusion is that pedagogic
studies are more suited to students who have a conservative character and a religious
lifestyle, who prefer to “keep to the rules”. They feel comfortable acting within known,
predetermined frameworks. Thus, the practical variables of religion serve as a conserva-
tive factor and can be a natural barrier to the students’ choice of field of study. It can be
anticipated that the more religious Israeli society becomes—as studies over the past thirty
years indicate is the trend—the more young women will choose to study pedagogy as a
profession, and the fewer who will work in scientific research. These findings provide a
more complete picture, in which the level of religious practice can be a factor influencing
the choice of field of study for young female students in Israel.
To reinforce the study results and make generalizations beyond the time and sample,
the study should be conducted again with different subjects. For example, further studies
can examine the same research questions over the next few years among female students
at Achva Academic College and additional academic colleges. Possible further studies can
Religions 2021, 12, 453 12 of 16
examine changing trends in attitudes regarding religion and spirituality among female
students as compared with male students over the years, using a comparative longitudi-
nal study.
Author Contributions: Investigation, A.F., formal analysis, D.B., Writing—original draft, A.F. Both
authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by Achva Academic College.
Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the
Research Authority of Achva Academic College.
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the
study.
Data Availability Statement: The data can be found at the Research Authority of Achva Academic
College. It is confidential and protected.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Notes
1 This is the only study that includes a category of Bedouin students regarding education. All the other studies that we found
included Bedouins as part of the group of Muslims. See, for example, Fuchs (2017).
2 Regarding the situation of Arabs at Israeli research universities, see Ali (2013).
3 In Israel, research has not been conducted on the relationships between different ethnic and religious groups in the same
classroom. See, for example, the study carried out among Jewish and Arab nursing students at an academic college in Israel.
This study shows tense relations between the two groups, with the Arabs suffering from ethnic discrimination (Arieli and
Friedman 2015). However, American research has also discussed this, and the results indicate the possibility of equal
relationships between students of different backgrounds in the same classroom (Freidus and Noguera 2017).
4 For studies regarding the differences between religion and spirituality, see Lazar (2014).
5 Studies discuss the lack of willingness to answer questions. However this is not the place for expansion. See, for example,
Bartlett (2005).
6 Regarding spirituality in twenty-first century Israel, see two books of articles discussing a wide range of such phenomena:
Feraro and Lewis (2017) and Tabori (2007).
7 Regarding conservatism in Bedouin society, see Abu Ras (2012); Fuchs (2017); Kalagy (2012, pp. 2014–15); Optalka and Lapidot
(2012); Rubin and Novis Deutsch (2017); Rudnitzky (2012); and Spector-Ben Ari (2013)—all noted above.
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