Fourteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

The present study contributes to a vast body of empirical research on the importance of the sense of justice in the educational sphere. It examines the mediating role of perceived injustice (grades and lecturer-student relations) in ethnic/racial differences with respect to trust and identification. The focus is on an ethnically and racially mixed higher-education institution in Israel which provides a venue for the encounter of three distinct and otherwise insular groups of students: Ethiopian-Jews, non-Ethiopian Jews; and Arabs holding Israeli citizenship. The study argues that the educational features of higher-education institutions may be conducive to fostering a sense of justice in the classroom, which ameliorates ethnic/racial rifts by promoting trust and identification. A sample of 700 Israeli university students was examined using the Baron and Kenney’s (1986) mediation method. By and large, the findings support the study’s main argument. It is noteworthy, however, that compared to perceived injustice in grades distribution, perceptions of unjust treatment on the part of lecturers emerged as a stronger mediating factor in the differences respecting the reported levels of trust and identification.