An intersectional perspective on Muslim women's issues and experiences in employment

Abstract

Drawing on a qualitative study of second‐generation Pakistani heritage Muslim women in employment in the UK, this article uses and develops an intersectional perspective to explain the interconnected and overlapping factors, such as gender, ethnicity and religion that affect these women at work. It also considers individual strategies and resources these women use to address any obstacles in the way of their employment and careers. The article uses the notions of inequality regimes and intersectionality to explain inequality in the workplace and the complex challenges facing Muslim female employees. The results show that these women continue to face a myriad of challenges in the UK workplace, and that a unilateral focus on gender does not sufficiently explain the work‐related experiences of second‐generation Muslim women in the UK. Therefore, it is important to take into account gender's intersection with ethnicity and religion.

The politics of (in)visibility displays: Ultra-Orthodox women manoeuvring within and between visibility regimes

“…Ball, 2010; Sewell and Barker, 2006) to expose the cultural embeddedness of surveillance and the various interpretations it is given by those gazed at, our study reveals ultra-Orthodox women’s interpretations of the surveillance mechanisms and demonstrates the cultural embeddedness of the gazing mechanisms; (4) we add to the growing literature on gender-intersectionality by indicating the importance of intersecting surveillance systems as a reflection of the extra-organisational matrix of domination that infiltrates the organisational lives of social minorities, and subjects them to more extensive surveilling systems (Choo and Ferree, 2010; Fotaki and Harding, 2018). In so doing, we also contribute to recent interest in gender-religiosity intersectionality within organisational studies (Tariq and Syed, 2018).…”

“…While religiosity is often listed as a relevant identity category for studying gender intersectionality (e.g. Tariq and Syed, 2018), organisational studies have yet to explore in depth this important intersection and its consequences. However, assumptions of disenchantment and rationalisation undergird organisations, making the secular, rational man – whose devotion to the organisation is not compromised by religious demands of time and compliance with another authority – the ideal worker.…”

The workplace experiences of BAME professional women: Understanding experiences at the intersection

“…While intersectional research tends to be rare in the UK context, there is a small amount of British BAME intersectional scholarship (Atewologun & Sealy, 2014;Atewologun et al, 2016;Atewologun & Singh, 2010;Özbilgin et al, 2010;Showunmi, Atewologun, & Bebbington, 2016;Tariq & Syed, 2018).…”

Something Old and Something New: Future Directions in Vocational Research With People of Color in the United States

“…Still much of the intersectional research on vocational issues seems to be conducted by scholars outside of vocational psychology (e.g., Collins, Dumas, & Moyer, 2017;Dickens & Chavez, 2018;Harris, 2014;L. T. O'Brien, Blodorn, Adams, Garcia, & Hammer, 2015;Tariq & Syed, 2018;Yu, 2014Yu, , 2016. Several axes of difference also remain underexplored in the intersectional psychological literature, particularly social class, religion, and transgender issues (Ali, Yamada, & Mahmood, 2015; R. M. Lee & Dean, 2004;Reimers & Stabb, 2015), raising issues of inequity in research investment.…”