Twenty-fourth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

The majority of studies dealing with the feeling of ostracism focus on ostracism among employees in the organizational workspace and mainly take a psychological perspective. We assume sociological aspects also play a role in ostracism or its elimination. Our study examined ostracism in academic settings within neoliberal regimes, looking specifically at students in an Israel institution of higher education. First, we tested the relations between a personality trait (conscientiousness), group cohesion, and students’ feelings of ostracism, recreating the results predicted in the literature. Then, we challenged these results by comparing findings for Jewish and Arab students, in the context of the continuous, intractable conflict between majority (Jews) and minority (Arabs) groups. The sample included 352 students (81% Jews; 19% Arabs). Findings showed that psychological theories provided only a partial explanation of students’ feelings of ostracism; critical sociological analysis of the members of the two groups is also required.