‘It’s not hard, only challenging’: difficulties and coping strategies of Arab students at a Jewish college in Israel

This study examines what difficulties undergraduate Education students from the Arab sector in Israel face in their academic studies and how they cope with them. The study is based on the qualitative paradigm of data collection and analysis, with a focus on a homogeneous group of Arab students attending a Jewish academic institution claiming to be multicultural. The study is based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 33 students. Findings show that the difficulties the students experience in their academic studies are: a linguistic-cultural barrier, lack of prior preparation for academic studies, a low socioeconomic status, and among the female students—the gender lifestyle expected of women. The students interviewed reported that the strategies they used to cope with the difficulties they encountered in their studies were: receiving support from the college, particularly supportive and encouraging lecturers and the opportunity the college provides for learning in a homogeneous group on a multicultural campus, support from close family, desire for social change, and a serious need among the female students for self-actualization.