British Muslims held back by widespread discrimination
British Muslims are being held back at every stage of their lives because of widespread Islamophobia, a new study shows.
Research for the government’s social mobility watchdog reveals that Muslims are not able to reach their full potential because of racism and discrimination, whether in education or in employment.
“The report uncovers significant barriers to improved social mobility for young Muslims from school through university and into the workplace – with many reporting experience of Islamophobia, discrimination and racism,” a statement from the social mobility commission said.
Although many people, especially girls, from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds are likely to succeed in education and go on to university, this does not translate to the labour market. Only 6 per cent of Muslims are in higher managerial, administrative and professional roles, the report found, compared with 10 per cent of the overall population.
Alan Milburn, the former cabinet minister who chairs the social mobility commission, said the report painted a “disturbing picture” of the challenges that Muslims face.
He said: “The British social mobility promise is that hard work will be rewarded. Unfortunately, for many young Muslims in Britain today, this promise is being broken.”
The report showed that among 16 to 74-year-olds, only one in five (19.8 per cent) of the Muslim population is in full-time employment, compared with more than one in three (34.9 per cent) of the overall population in England and Wales.
The problem particularly affects Muslim women: 18 per cent of whom aged 16 to 74 were recorded as “looking after home and family” compared with 6 per cent in the overall female population.
Mr Milburn said: “Young Muslims themselves identify cultural barriers in their communities and discrimination in the education system and labour market as some of the principal obstacles that stand in their way.
“Young Muslim women face a specific challenge to maintain their identity while seeking to succeed in modern Britain.”
A team of academics led by Sheffield Hallam University explored the reasons behind this broken “social mobility promise” by examining young Muslims’ perceptions and experiences of growing up and seeking work in Britain.
They found that many young Muslims felt they must work “10 times as hard” as non-Muslims just to get the same opportunities, because of cultural differences and various forms of discrimination.
Students face stereotyping by and low expectations from their teachers, while there is often a dearth of Muslim teachers or other role models in schools.
Participants in the study also said they faced widespread discrimination when trying to secure employment, with minority ethnic-sounding names seen as reducing their chances of getting interviews.
Once in work, Muslims found that they routinely face racism and harassment, while women wearing a headscarf in the office suffered additional discrimination.
Prof Jacqueline Stevenson, from Sheffield Hallam University, said that the study showed the prevalence of “casual Islamophobic attitudes” in the UK.
Speaking exclusively to The National, Prof Stevenson said: “There are very mixed views over what ‘being Muslim’ means. It often gets collapsed into ‘Islamist’ because of a lack of understanding and because of some media reporting.”
She said that international students, such as those from the Middle East coming to British universities, should be made aware of this distorted perception of Muslims in the UK.
“Broader issues around immigration and terrorism have sadly shaped people’s attitudes. At the same time, there needs to be a recognition of the merits of having a diverse workforce.”
The report made several recommendations to improve
Many young Muslims felt they must work 10 times as hard as non-Muslims just to get the same opportunities
social mobility. These include mentoring and support programmes for school-age Muslims; better teacher training with a focus on religious diversity; and the implementation of a careers strategy by the department for education that promotes informed choices by pupils, free from stereotypical assumptions.
It said that business organisations should promote greater awareness and take-up of good unconscious bias, diversity, religious literacy and cultural competence training by employers.
Prof Stevenson said that it was often the smallest things that made a big difference.
“For instance, a willingness to arrange after-work social events in places that don’t serve alcohol. The same applies to school, for example, by not scheduling exams late in the afternoon during Ramadan, when many students have been fasting all day. These little things would make a huge difference.
“As a whole, there needs to be a greater and more sensitive understanding of Islam as a religion,” she said.
Mr Milburn also acknowledged that there were no easy solutions, but said the onus on creating a more inclusive environment lay with the government and communities, as much as with educators and employers.