Absorption and Adjustment Problems among Immigrant Students Studying for the Practical Engineering Degree in Israel.

The main objectives of this study were: to examine the problems faced by immigrant students (N=294) from the former Soviet Union studying for the practical engineering diploma; to examine their attitudes towards various aspects of training in the college, and to make recommendations that facilitate the absorption process of the immigrant students. Findings showed that most of the immigrant students indicated that they had enrolled in those colleges because they were looking for a profession that could be studied in a short period so they would be able to join the labor force as soon as possible. Most of the students surveyed (74%) preferred to study in Hebrew rather than in their mother tongue, 71% expressed the opinion that the teaching techniques used in the colleges suited them, and 81% preferred studying in mixed classes in which the number of immigrants were equal to that of the veteran students or in classes where the immigrants were a majority. As far as social integration was concerned, it was found that only 28% of the new immigrants visited veteran students' homes, and only 25% were visited by Israeli students. The most frequently mentioned suggestions for improvement relate to the attitude of teachers and the administration to immigrants and the network of ties with veteran Israeli students. Contains 16 references. (JRH)