UK Muslim Women Suffer Job Discrimination

"They do experience negative attitudes because of religious dress and are having to take jobs at lower levels than they are qualified for," said Watson.

"He just looked at me…He almost didn't want to talk to me," Hijab-clad Saeeda Ahmed recalled her interview for a job at an investment bank.

"On paper I came across as ambitious, motivated and experienced, but when he saw the way I looked he just thought, 'No, she doesn't fit in with this organization,'" added the 29-year-old from Bradford.

She stressed that her hijab represents strength, determination and independence.

"It's about standing up against a culture which is seeing women as sexual objects. It also stands for a distinct identity for women which is different from men."

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

Although Ahmed had left university keen to enter the corporate world and progress through the ranks, she gave up the dream after dozens of rejections, usually following the interview stage.

The young Muslim woman now runs her own business advising companies and public bodies how to promote diversity.

"I never in my life thought I would be supporting the organizations that turned me down for jobs, but here I am."

Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly two million.

Ethnic Penalties

Ahmed's case is one of similar experiences facing Muslim women and those of immigrant backgrounds, according to a study by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).

The study found that the majority of 1,500 girls and women interviewed experienced what they described as "ethnic penalties".

Mandy, from a Bangladeshi origin, got a position at an arts organization.

"In the first week I was wearing my salwar kameez with a shawl," she says.

The traditional dress, worn by various peoples of South Asia, consists of loose pajama-like trousers (Salwar) and a long shirt (kameez).

"The manager said, 'You look like a Taliban terrorist,'" she recalled.

"I asked him why he said that and he told me we Muslims were too sensitive and needed to lighten up. I was the only Muslim woman. There was a culture of ignoring it so everyone became complicit in the treatment," said complaimed.

The EOC report showed that 90% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi-origin women were getting lower pay and suffering higher rates of unemployment.

"The flipside is that they do experience negative attitudes because of religious dress and are having to take jobs at lower levels than they are qualified for," EOC chair Jenny Watson said.

"They are clearly experiencing a mixture of racism and sexism that is difficult to navigate."

Motivated

The EOC study found that the majority of the surveyed women were highly motivated and determined to achieve independence and success in their career.

"What we found was that young Pakistani and Bangladeshi girls were more ambitious than white girls in the same school," said EOC chair Jenny Watson.

"They were more likely to aspire to senior positions and more likely to be graduates."

The report found that under 35 year old Black Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women in employment are more likely to aspire to senior positions when they have dependent children than white British women.

Vanessa Ogden, head-teacher of Mulberry girls' school in Tower Hamlets, east London - where 97% of pupils are Bangladeshi and 98% are Muslim – said the vast majority go on to further education.

"The girls are very ambitious and their parents are also ambitious for them."

Click to Read the EOC study