The University of Haifa has launched a campus-wide initiative that is promoting social mobility for under-represented students from Israel’s geographic and social periphery.  A team of University of Haifa researchers, psychologists, career counselors and dedicated administrative staff are developing a holistic, multidisciplinary academic model with a corresponding student support system that is promoting inclusion and social mobility policies – first, at the University of Haifa and then at Israeli universities and colleges throughout the country.

The initiative targets three main student groups: underrepresented students in need of better access and support; students from Israel’s social and geographic periphery who are at risk of dropping out; and underperforming students in need of academic and social support services to help them overcome learning barriers and improve their social mobility. Another component of the program includes a research initiative assessing the impact of the program on students’ academic achievements over the course of their studies, and later into their inclusion and integration in the Israeli workforce. In addition, the initiative plans to set-up a Knesset lobby group that will advocate establishing these types of programs at universities throughout the country.