Digital Library
Trends in Jewish Young Adult Experiences and Perceptions of Antisemitism in America from 2017 to 2019
Topic:
Antisemitism & Antizionism
Principal Investigators:
Graham Wright, Sasha Volodarsky, Shahar Hecht, Leonard Saxe
Study Date:
2021
Source:
Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies,Brandeis University
Key Findings:
This study analyzes recent trends in Jewish young adults’ experiences and perceptions of antisemitism. Despite the high-profile incidents during this period, there is no evidence of a major increase in experiences of antisemitic harassment among Jewish young adults—either on or off campus—between 2017 and 2019. At the same time, data show a substantial increase in concerns among young Jews about antisemitism in the United States and on college campuses, with concerns about antisemitism in the United States (but not on campus) being especially concentrated among liberal Jews.
Overall, undergraduates reported slightly higher rates of antisemitic harassment at each time point. Overall, the proportion of undergraduates who reported experiencing any form of antisemitic harassment in the past three months increased from 18% in March of 2017 to 24% in November of 2019.
To confirm that the differences between undergraduates and non-undergraduates were not due to the influence of confounding variables, results were presented from a binary logit model of experiencing antisemitic harassment, controlling for undergraduate student status and other variables found to be associated with experiencing antisemitism. The model indicates that Jewish young adults with higher levels of connection to Israel were more likely to experience antisemitism, and those with more Jewish friends were less likely to experience it. Furthermore, the model suggests that these characteristics have a far greater impact on the likelihood of experiencing antisemitism than being an undergraduate. Jews who identified as politically conservative were also more likely to experience antisemitism during this period than Jews who identified as politically liberal.
Regarding perceptions of antisemitism, Jewish young adults were more concerned about antisemitism in the United States than on college campuses at each time point. In both contexts, there is a generally upward trend: between March of 2017 and November of 2019, the proportion of Birthright applicants who were “very much” concerned about antisemitism in the United States grew from 39 to 53%; during the same period the percentage who were “very much” concerned about antisemitism on campus increased from 25 to 37%.
Study results show clear evidence of an ideological divide in Jewish young adults’ perceptions of antisemitism in the United States. Despite the fact that Jewish conservatives were most likely to report experiences of antisemitism, Jews who identified as liberal were significantly more concerned about antisemitism in the United States than were their moderate and conservative peers. Ideological differences were found with respect to trends in concern about antisemitism in the United States: the spike in concern after Pittsburgh was evident for liberal and moderate Jewish young adults, but not for conservatives.
Methodology:
Data for this study comes from a series of surveys of US applicants to the Birthright Israel program. The surveys were of applicants to summer trips in 2017, 2018, and 2019. In each of these three years, those who applied to go on a Birthright trip during the summer were surveyed in March or April (approximately three months before the trip) and again in November (approximately four months after the trip). Summer 2018 applicants were also surveyed a third time in November 2019 (approximately 16 months after their trip). Data are available from six separate time points during the three-year period. In all cases, surveys were sent to all eligible Birthright applicants, including those who did not actually go on the trips.
The sample for these analyses is not fully representative of all Jewish young adults, insofar as it includes only those between the ages of 18 and 27, and only those who applied to Birthright Israel. Although these analyses cannot produce reliable estimates of the overall percentage of Jewish young adults who experienced or were concerned about antisemitism during this period, the study explores changes in perceptions and experiences of antisemitism and the extent to which these changes differ among subpopulations (e.g., undergraduate students or liberals).
To track overall trends in antisemitism during this period, researchers analyzed weighted estimates of the proportion of respondents who reported experiencing or being concerned about antisemitism at each time point. Trends in experiences of antisemitism are reported separately for undergraduates and non-undergraduates. For perceptions of antisemitism, researchers looked at the entire sample and separately reported trends in concern about antisemitism in the US and on college campuses. After reporting overall trends, researchers used binary logit models to identify factors associated with experiences and perceptions of antisemitism. Models also included controls for age at the time of survey (as a binary variable denoting whether respondents were aged 22 or older) and gender.