The “Jumpers” are a rare phenomenon in Israeli society, they are a kind of a dream come true. So, who are theyand how do they do it? How is it that these exceptional young kids who are born into poor families, suddenly climb up the economic ladder against all odds? A new longitudinal study, led by top economists, mined the big data, and came up with very interesting findings.
The journey started with a basic unfortunate reality of western societies, that we tend to stay the course with our preset trajectories. What it means in simple words is that if we were born to rich and well-connected families, thechances are that we get good education, penetrate effective social networks, enter great jobs and maintain a high economic status in life. We will keep our circles exclusive so that this reality doesn’t change.
In the US, where term “the American Dream” originated, people are supposed not to accept this as a predetermineddestiny. Infused by tangible hope for progress, Americans are nurtured from early age that if you develop relevant skills, if you are persistent and work hard enough, then you will be able to do it, regardless of where you come from. This is a remarkable idea that inspires a whole society to improve and thrive.
In practice however, the Opportunity Insight research team at Harvard University revealed that only half of the US citizens of today earn more than their parents, in comparison to 90% during the 1940s. The probability for young people in the US of moving from the bottom quintile to the top quintile, is 7.5% compared with 11.7% in Denmark and 13.4% in Canada. The Harvard experts therefore concluded that “the American Dream is fading”.
The Israeli team of experts, led by Karnit Flug and Yotam Halperin, divided our cohorts into quarters. They also searched for “jumpers” from the bottom to the top economic quarter, with special emphasis on the high-techsector in Israel. They primarily focused on high tech since in recent years it is becoming a unique growth engine that provides more than half of our exports and a quarter of our national income, turning into the new “Israeli Dream”.
When they extracted the data of recent decades, they uncovered a fascinating story. It turns out that if you come from an underprivileged economic background, choosing a career in high tech dramatically increases your prospects of reaching the top quarter, at least by four times than any other sector. The conclusion from this was straightforward – high tech is the most effective springboard for social mobility in Israel today.
However, they also found out that 70% of the employees in high tech positions were born, raised and educated in families of the top two economic quarters. Most of them are also male, secular and Jewish, making the fabric of Israeli high-tech companies very homogenous. On the other hand, 10% of Israel’s high-tech workforce is comprised of “jumpers” who made it through to crack the heavy ceiling.
Who are these jumpers? Unsurprisingly most of them are still male, secular, and Jewish. They matriculated their high school studies in advanced tracks (five units) of mathematics and English, many then served in an IDF tech unit and then pursued a STEM degree at a university. Even with the same qualifications of education, Jews have 8 times more chances than Arabs, and men have double then women, in entering a high-tech position.
The good news for the jumpers in the coming years isthat the talent pipeline in Israel is going through a turmoil. In a coordinated effort, that exemplified public-private collaboration, Israel doubled the number of its high school graduates with advanced (five units) mathematics. Half of these graduates are female, and many are Arab. Soon they will seek a path through higher education and knock on the doors of high-tech.
This will be a transformational moment for employers, and I believe we must now turn our eyes towards them. We all know jumpers are a rare phenomenon, but they hold a very important promise to our society, as well as to the high-tech companies. It is the promise of hope through progress, of success through diversity, and of hard work that through skill and grit, no dream will beunreal for any of us.
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