MA in Immigration and Social Integration

Head of program : Prof. Efrat Ben-Ze'ev​​

Advantages of the program: Operating successfully since 2007, it is the only program in Israel in this field. The program’s alumni can be found today at a wide array of bodies, organizations, and authorities, forming a professional community that spans the entire field of immigration and absorption. Some alumni currently are pursuing PhDs in this field.

About the field: Immigration is a global phenomenon, one that many states must cope with today. Over the past five decades, the number of immigrants (residents of a place that is not their homeland) has tripled from 75 million to 244 million individuals. Some 60 percent of immigrants worldwide are concentrated in developed countries, where they make up more than 10% of the population. States that absorb immigrants must cope with demographic, economic, and cultural changes within their borders. In the global age, international immigration is on the rise and has become an important factor in relations between poor, developing states and developed states. Massive immigration is liable to cause a shortage of resources and severe absorption difficulties, inflation, and unemployment. This is one reason that this field is researched and studied as a discipline at elite universities around the world.

Israel is a distinctive example of a state of immigrants. The waves of immigration that it absorbed since its establishment are an important part of its collective identity. Almost 40% of Israel’s Jewish population today are first-generation residents, meaning they are the children of immigrants who were born abroad. Most others are descendants of immigrants. In addition, like many countries around the world, since the early 1990s, Israeli society has coped with other populations of immigrants, from migrant workers to asylum seekers. Immigration and absorption issues are therefore relevant in the Israeli context and touch on a wide variety of different fields of activity.

About the program: The goal of the studies is to investigate and understand the phenomenon of global immigration, especially in the Israeli context, and to provide students with the language, concepts, professional tools, and systemic viewpoint that will serve them well in the social services, education, and health systems, among others. Graduates of the program are proficient in handling the absorption of immigrants in society, multicultural management, and addressing the implications of immigration on the society and community in Israel and abroad.

Who is the program for?

• Professionals in the public and private sector who deal directly with immigration, aliyah, and social integration: educators at formal educational institutions and boarding schools; individuals who hold positions in government ministries, local authorities, nonprofits, and international organizations: social workers; and more.
• Individuals who hold positions that deal directly or indirectly with immigrants and their integration into the society and the community: human resources professionals at public and private organizations, psychologists, lawyers, social workers, executives, and more.
• Alumni of bachelor’s degrees in all areas who are interested in entering this fascinating, developing field.