Discrimination Muslim Men and Women Face in a Workplace - Coursework Example

WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION FACING MUSLIM MEN AND WOMEN Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation The current global environment in relation to the treatment of religious minorities has continued to elicit lots of attention and research. In fact, it is established that in most countries within Europe and America; there has been a growing fear and paranoia of Muslims who are mostly perceived to be terrorists and sometimes labelled as being cruel, hot-tempered and irrational in their undoing. Sheridan (2006) agrees that Muslims are viable targets of workplace discrimination in both the United States of America and United Kingdom. In consequence, the primary research ascertains that Muslim women are the most vulnerable ones to workplace discrimination considering the fact that their religious affiliations is easily identifiable through their attire; a hijab. Kirton and Green (2016) also ascertain that there is an increase of awareness of the unfairly positioned religious minorities especially in their places of work. In the United Kingdom the impact of workplace discrimination and Islamophobia towards the lives of Muslim people has increased extensively. In fact, studies conducted in the workplace setting indicate that Muslim applying for jobs and those already employed have, at one point or the other, come face-to-face with discrimination based on their religious affiliations. Taking into account that Muslims forms 4% of the overall religious minority population and experiencing lowest rates of employment of fewer than 47% for Muslim men and 24% for their women counterpart (Kirton & Green, 2016) indicates a great disparity with such other religions as Christianity. Informal organisational practices within these workplaces as well as a lack of cultural comprehension on the part of employers and colleagues have played a big role in bringing about discrimination against Islam-affiliated workers. The objective of this essay is on examining the awareness of different levels of discrimination Muslim men and women face in a workplace setting in relation to such important aspects as employment opportunities; earning levels; career development and ability to enjoy a working environment that is cognizant of their religious welfare. The paper also provides a discussion on possible recommendations that could be adopted in order to possibly reduce and supress this form of religious-based discrimination. Just recently, studies have managed to conceptualise the level of discrimination that exists within any given organisational setting to be either formal or interpersonal in their immediate nature (King & Ahmad, 2010). Formal level of discrimination is characterised by a distinct set of behaviour that is easily preventable by stringent rules and regulations and organisational policies. On the other hand, interpersonal discrimination is not illegal in nature and would mainly involve a biased behaviour towards other people like engaging in decreased eye contact; shortened interactions and rudeness (King& Ahmad, 2010). The justification-suppression model of prejudice is one approach used to assess and determine the ever-changing nature of discrimination as well as common subtle manifestations of prejudice in real life occurrences (King &Ahmad, 2010). It is important to understand that this model ascertains that genuine prejudice, which is characterised by a negative attitude towards a specific group, is indeed followed closely by the suppression aspect that seeks to establish whether the level of prejudice experienced is indeed a form of discrimination. All of these forms of prejudices are discussed as challenges facing Muslims in workplace within the discussion below; Recent researches conducted to establish the degree of discrimination faced by Muslims in their places of work indicate they suffered from job ghettoization, which acts to impede career progression within the host country (Syed & Pio, 2010). A distinct diverse set of literature has conventionally disregarded power relations. For instance, it can be noted that an organisational culture that is highly attributed with mono-cultural dominance will tend disregard minority ethnic personnel at a distinctively lower level of the power hierarchy thereby availing little or no opportunities needed for them to progress within the structures of power. Kirton and Green (2016) note that amongst the religious minorities; Jewish and Hindu are the advantaged with at least 80% and 62% respectively in managerial; professional and associate professional jobs while 35% of Muslim men are employed to a higher level in low-skilled job categories. In essence, Syed and Pio (2010, p.123) notes that the underlying negative effects of cultural dress on the result of promotions as well as attitudes of co-employees hindered successful outcomes. This is basically because of the infamous stereotypical perceptions about Muslims and particularly women that they would like waste lots of company time and resource since they are likely to demand for extensive maternity leaves; require a flexible working environment; high chances of them being uncommitted and unsocial; factors that do not resonate well with most organisations in both the United States of America and Europe in general (Commons Select Committee, 2016). Despite the fact that some of the organisations came out to formulate policies protecting Muslims from any form of discrimination, the success of these stipulations would however; be hindered at the local management level. For instance, in the case of Muslims working for large organisations that had been legitimately promoted by senior management would not auger well with colleagues at the local level who always felt that the career advancement opportunity was only offered in order to position the organisation as being politically correct. As a result of this, many potential Muslims employees set for promotion face lots of resistance from advancing their careers further. Of particular interest to note, Muslims employees that faced prejudice from their local line managers missed on advancing their careers due to being left out on pertinent information relate to training and development opportunities offered at any given moment. Local line managers possess the capacity to connect personnel with distinct training opportunities as well as provide effective advice on career development hence in the event that they are hold negative attitude towards Muslim employees would technically result to them being abandoned in such career-advancing opportunities. In the United Kingdom, the Muslim Council of Britain engaged in a research to establish the results of name-blind recruitment exercise and found out that white applicants would send at least 9 applications before they could get a positive feedback in form of invitation for interviews or rather an encouraging phone call while their minority counterparts with similar qualifications and experience would be compelled to send more than 16 applications prior to receiving same feedback. Markedly, there are many examples of Muslim women facing repulsion and discrimination whenever they apply for jobs. It is ascertained that this minority group would face extreme discrimination in comparison to their white counterparts as they were likely to be asked questions relating to their marital status and family life before they could go the next step of recruitment and selection process. According to reports formulated by the European Network against Racism, it was found out that there were differences in the nature of experiences of women seeking employment in the entire European Union. For instance, the report established that in the United Kingdom, 1 out of every 8 Pakistani women were directly required to provide sensitive information pertaining to their marital status and family aspirations in the course of job interviews in comparison to 1 out of every 30 white women. Notably, the Muslim Women’s Network UK makes an observation that the impact of unconscious bias on employment chances availed to Muslim people is marred with intense bias. In a particular case, a Muslim woman indicated that despite her spending three years at the University, which was situated far away from her home, to obtain her degree; a potential employer still had to question her capacity to travel around the world for meetings and company events thereby bringing about the misconception that since she was a Muslim women she was not permitted by her family to travel far away from her home. Certainly, Muslim women continue to face lots of discrimination in the recruitment and selection process due to their mode of religion and cultural dress. Statically, it is ascertained that more than 18% of women seeking employment were not successful in most cases and especially when they wore the hijab and niqab while the chances of getting one without these cultural attires were high. In regards to Muslim workers welfare, the idea of preferential treatment based on their religion affiliation was mixed. There is extensive evidence that indicates that some of the Muslim employees especially men enjoyed positive experiences while working. Most of the Muslim men workers that were interviewed indicated that they were allowed accommodation; Friday prayer facilities and provided with prayer rooms as and whenever they needed to conduct prayers without any form of discrimination. In contrast, there is also evidence of a lack of understanding by some of the employers in the United Kingdom. For instance, Muslim Women’s Network UK provided a highlight of a Muslim woman that was delegated more tasks that were to be completed in the course of Ramadan. 'I am invisible' "I work part-time and my colleagues treat me like an alien because I am Muslim. "I see disinterest in their faces. I am always friendly but they never bother with me. They talk amongst themselves as though I am invisible. "Most of the time they assume a position of superiority over me. I am not apologetic for being me and have now given up being so friendly. "It's sad that it is not us Muslims who are failing to integrate but others and their ignorance about other cultures." Sara (BBC, 2016). The excerpt above indicates a first-hand experience of a Muslim woman that despite making intensive efforts to interact with her colleagues at work; they choose to ignore her. The fact that this Muslim woman is made to inferior in her workplace is in itself a form of interpersonal form of discrimination that curtails her rights to a healthy social life. In fact, it is evidently clear that the Muslims workers are ready to integrate with other staff belonging to other set of religions but are not allowed an opportunity to do so (Baldas, 2015). According to Kirton and Green (2016), there is a common set of belief that Islam culture and religion requires that Muslim women to stay out of the labour market and only care for the family while studies indicate a contrary finding-which the majority of Muslim women with children would rather seek for work than is stay-at-home mothers. In the United States of America, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found merit in some of the complaints made against JBS Swift- a famous meatpacking company and as a result, filed a law suit on behalf of more than 160 Somali immigrant workers that faced formal discrimination and prejudice as supervisors and other workers engaged in cursing them for being Muslim (Greenhouse, 2010). It is alleged that blood; meat and bones were thrown at them and sometimes their prayer breaks interrupted. In yet another case, the same commission is said to have filed a law suit against Abercrombie & Fitch-fashion design retailer that refused to employ a Muslim woman since she was wearing a head scarf. It is worth to note that even though Muslims constitute less than 2% of the entire United States of America population, they accounted for more than a quarter of religious discrimination claims thereby raising tension between Muslim American workers and their counterparts practicing other religions( Greenhouse, 2010). In terms of earnings, studies have successfully found out that the minority group still lags behind in respect to being paid equally at host country. In fact, it is determined that the Muslim women; as opposed to the male counterpart, have continued to experience distinctively lower level of payments for equal work done in comparison to their white counterparts (Muhammad & Abdulkarim, 2015). The low-level of payment cuts across all industries in both the United States of America and United Kingdom for the mere reason that the Muslim women are mostly inactive and irrational in their undertakings. Statistical reports indicate that at least 4% of the working Muslim women population in both the US and UK receive lower salaries and wages despite them holding equally similar qualifications and work experience with their counterparts from other religions and especially Christians (Muhammad & Abdulkarim, 2015). Stereotypes are used to justify this form of discrimination as Muslim women are perceived to be mostly dependent on their men for upkeep hence little or no need for equal pay. On a positive note though, different anti-discriminations measures have been suggested to facilitate the possible reduction and even elimination of unequal and unfair treatment of Muslim workers at their immediate workplace. Numerous organisations have ensured to develop policies to oversee the welfare of this minority group in so many ways. In both the United Kingdom and United States of America, there have been stringent efforts made to formulate and implement laws that govern employers from exercising any form of discrimination at workplace (Ying Liao, et al, 2016). To strengthen these laws, these countries have made sure to develop equality commissions for all disadvantaged minority groups; a platform where these groups can report any form of discrimination faced and suit placed on their behalf. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is such one body that helps individuals to establish whether there has been unlawful act committed; engages in the application of a restraining injunction and goes further to help a person in court proceedings of the same (Ying Liao, et al, 2016). Other proposed remedies for eliminating this form of discrimination are discussed as follows; first, the United Kingdom government proposes for resolution of discrimination cases locally within the workplaces prior to their advancement phase of grieving. In this regards, these cases are expected to adhere to ACAs framework and would require proper conciliation services prior to developing employment tribunal claim (Possumah, Ismail, & Shahimi, 2013). Consequently, it is proposed that the fear of taking action against the employer is one such attribute that prevents possible justice for discriminated parties. Thus, it is expected that the employer devise policies that would provide an effective strategy of curtailing possible knock-on effects or victimisation in order to set a precedent to other set of personnel within the organisation. To sum up the discussion above, it can be noted that the paper has successfully argued that the Muslim men and women face different forms of discrimination within their respective workplace. It has been argued that Muslim-affiliated workers are discriminated against in relation to their salary structures; employment opportunities; social welfare and career advancements. The paper has successfully provided different cases in both the United States of America and United Kingdom of Muslim workers that have faced interpersonal and formal discrimination at point or another in their workplace. In fact, it has been established that Muslim women workers are the worst affected especially since a majority of a host country portray and conform to distinct set of stereotypes aimed at discriminating them. Muslim women workers will likely face high degree of discrimination in relation to their earnings level and employment opportunities as opposed to their male counterparts despite them possessing similar qualifications and work-related experiences. This is attributed to the stereotype that Muslim women are required to take care of their homes. References List Baldas, T. 2015. ‘Workplace bias Complaints pour in from Michigan Muslims’. Detroit Free Press. Accessed from http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/12/21/workplace-bias-complaints-pour-mich-muslims/77721248/ BBC News. 2016. ‘Muslim Women at Disadvantage in Workplace’. Accessed from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37042942 Commons Select Committee. 2016. ‘Government must tackle inequalities faced by Muslim People in Employment. Accessed from https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmwomeq/89/8909.htm#_idTextAnchor068 Greenhouse, S. 2010. ‘Muslims Report Rising Discrimination at Work’. The New York Times, Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/business/24muslim.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 King, EB & Ahmad, AS. 2010. An Experimental Field of Study of Interpersonal Discrimination towards Muslim Job Applicants, Personnel Psychology, vol.63, pp.881-906 Kirton, G. & Greene, AM, 2016. The Dynamics of Managing Diversity, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Muhammad, A.U. & Abdulkarim, H., 2015. Muslim women and entrepreneurship in Nigeria: meaning and challenges. African Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, 4(3), pp.232-245. Possumah, B.T., Ismail, A.G & Shahimi, S., 2013. Bringing work back in Islamic ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(2), pp.257-270. Syed, J & Pio, E. 2010. Veiled diversity? Workplace experiences of Muslim Women in Australia, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, vol.27, pp. 115-137 Sheridan LP. 2006. Islamophobia pre-and post-September 11th, 2001. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 21, 317–336 Ying Liao, Y., Soltani, E., Wang, W.Y. & Iqbal, A., 2016. The dynamics of workplace relationships in a diverse internationally staffed organisation: a qualitative ethnographic assessment. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, pp.1-30. Statement of Acknowledgment I am grateful for the help I got from different quotas while I was conducting my research. I am specifically thankful to some of my colleagues who ensured that I was on the right track with the assignment. In fact, they assisted with editing part of the paper to make in a way that adhered to basic grammar principles. In writing this paper, I made sure to adhere to the University’s policies and regulations related to plagiarism, copying and collusion. I confirm that the paper is entirely my own work and take full responsibility of its content. Read More