Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-29T01:58:53.563Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The diversity of professional Canadian Muslim women: Faith, agency, and ‘performing’ identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2018

Ruby Latif ,
Wendy Cukier ,
Suzanne Gagnon  and
Radia Chraibi
Ruby Latif
Affiliation:
Ted Rogers School of Management’s Diversity Institute, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5B2K3
Wendy Cukier*
Affiliation:
Ted Rogers School of Management’s Diversity Institute, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5B2K3
Suzanne Gagnon
Affiliation:
Ted Rogers School of Management’s Diversity Institute, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5B2K3
Radia Chraibi
Affiliation:
Ted Rogers School of Management’s Diversity Institute, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5B2K3
*
Corresponding author: wcukier@ryerson.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines how identities are constructed and performed by a sample of Muslim women in the Canadian workplace. This research will provide new insights on how Muslim women disclose or ‘perform’ their identities in different contexts. This study will build upon previous research on identity construction of ethnic minorities in the workplace and intersectionality and the workplace experiences of Muslim women by conducting interviews with 23 professional Muslim women in Canada. The findings have important implications for understanding Muslim women’s identity work in broader contexts of discrimination, as well as accommodation and inclusion in organizations.

Keywords

Muslim womenorganizationsidentitydiversityCanada
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 24 , Special Issue 5: Contextualizing Diversity Within Islam , September 2018 , pp. 612 - 633
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acker, J. (2012). Gendered organizations and intersectionality: Problems and possibilities. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 31(3), 214–224.Google Scholar
Adida, C. L., Laitin, D. D., & Valfort, M. A. (2010). Identifying barriers to Muslim integration in France. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(52), 384–390.Google Scholar
Al Ariss, A., Vassilopoulou, J., Özbilgin, M. F., & Game, A. (2013). Understanding career experiences of skilled minority ethnic workers in France and Germany. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(6), 1236–1256.Google Scholar
Alvesson, M., & Willmott, H. (2002). Identity regulation as organizational control: Producing the appropriate individual. Journal of Management Studies, 39(5), 619–644.Google Scholar
Beasley, M. A., & Fischer, M. J. (2012). Why they leave: The impact of stereotype threat on the attrition of women and minorities from science, math, and engineering majors. Social Psychology of Education, 15(4), 427–448.Google Scholar
Bell, E. L., & Nkomo, S. M. (2001). Our separate ways: Black and White women’s struggle for professional identity. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Bendl, R., Fleischmann, A., & Walenta, C. (2008). Diversity management discourse meets queer theory. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 23(6), 382–394.Google Scholar
Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1991). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge (No. 10). UK: Penguin.Google Scholar
Block, S., Galabuzi, G., Weiss, A., & Wellesley Institute (2014). The colour coded labour market by the numbers: A national household survey analysis. Toronto, Canada: Wellesley Institute.Google Scholar
Bowbly, S., & Lloyd-Evans, S. (2009). ‘You seem very westernised to me’: Place, identity and othering of Muslim workers in the UK labour market. In P. Hopkins, & R. Gale (Eds.), Muslims in Britain: Race, place and identities (pp. 37–54). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Branine, M., & Pollard, D. (2010). Human resource management with Islamic management principles: A dialectic for a reverse diffusion in management. Personnel Review, 39(6), 712–727.Google Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.Google Scholar
Brown, B. A. (2004). Discursive identity: Assimilation into the culture of science and its implications for minority students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(8), 810–834.Google Scholar
Chraibi, R., & Cukier, W. (2017). Muslim women in senior management positions in Canada. In J. Mahadevan, & C.-H. Mayer (Eds.), Muslim minorities, workplace diversity and reflexive HRM (pp. 162–182). London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Clair, J. A., Beatty, J. E., & MacLean, T. L. (2005). Out of sight but not out of mind: Managing invisible social identities in the workplace. Academy of Management Review, 30(1), 78–95.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, K. (1997). Intersectionality and identity politics: Learning from violence against women of color. In M. Lyndon Shanley, & U. Narayan (Eds.), Reconstructing Political Theory: Feminist Perspectives (pp. 178–193). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Croucher, S. M., Faulkner, S. L., Oommen, D., & Long, B. (2010). Demographic and religious differences in the dimensions of self-disclosure among Hindus and Muslims in India. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 39(1), 29–48.Google Scholar
Cukier, W. L., Yap, M., Holmes, M. R., Rodrigues, S., & Grant, K. (2009). Gender and visible minority status: Career advancement in the Canadian information and communications technology sector. ECIS, 776–787.Google Scholar
DeJordy, R. (2008). Just passing through: Stigma, passing, and identity decoupling in the work place. Group & Organization Management, 33(5), 504–531.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.) 2011). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Døving, C. A. (2010). Anti-semitism and Islamophobia: A comparison of imposed group identities. Tidsskrift for Islamforskning, 4(2), 52–76.Google Scholar
Ely, R. J., & Thomas, D. A. (2001). Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity perspectives on work group processes and outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46(2), 229–273.Google Scholar
Environics Institute (2016). Survey of Muslims in Canada 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2017, from http://www.environicsinstitute.org/uploads/institute-projects/survey%20of%20muslims%20in%20canada%202016%20-%20final%20report.pdf.Google Scholar
Environics Institute (2017). The Black Experience Project in the GTA. Retrieved July 23, 2017, from https://www.theblackexperienceproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Black-Experience-Project-GTA-OVERVIEW-REPORT-4.pdf.Google Scholar
Erikson, E. H. (1994). Identity and the life cycle. New York, NY: WW Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Essers, C., & Benschop, Y. (2009). Muslim businesswomen doing boundary work: The negotiation of Islam, gender and ethnicity within entrepreneurial contexts. Human Relations, 62(3), 403–423.Google Scholar
Fernando, M. L., & Joppke, C. (2009). Veil: Mirror of identity. Archives Européennes de Sociologie, 50(3), 519.Google Scholar
Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. (1986). Black students’ school success: Coping with the “burden of acting white.”. The Urban Review, 18, 176–206.Google Scholar
Fryer, R. G. (2006). “Acting white”: The social price paid by the best and brightest minority students. Education Next, 6, 53–59.Google Scholar
Gagnon, S., & Collinson, D. (2017). Resistance through difference: The co-constitution of dissent and inclusion. Organization Studies, 38, 1–24.Google Scholar
Glassner, B., & Loughlin, J. (1987). Drugs in adolescent worlds: Burnouts to straights. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on a spoiled identity. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (2014). Tacit knowledge in interaction. The Discourse Studies Reader: Main currents in theory and analysis, 204.Google Scholar
Golnaraghi, G., & Dye, K. (2016). Discourses of contradiction: A postcolonial analysis of Muslim women and the veil. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 16(2), 137–152.Google Scholar
Graham, E. (2013). The experiences of minority doctoral students at elite research institutions. New Directions for Higher Education, 163, 77–87.Google Scholar
Hogg, M. A., & Terry, D. J. (2014). Social identity processes in organizational contexts. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Hum, D., & Simpson, W. (2000). Closing the wage gap: Economic assimilation of Canadian immigrants reconsidered. Journal of International Migration and Integration/Revue de l’integration et de la migration internationale, 1(4), 427–441.Google Scholar
Humphreys, M., & Brown, A. D. (2002). Narratives of organizational identity and identification: A case study of hegemony and resistance. Organization Studies, 23(3), 421–447.Google Scholar
Kazemipur, A. (2014). The Muslim question in Canada: A story of segmented integration. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Keupp, H. (2012). Identität und Individualisierung. Riskante Chancen zwishchen Selbstsorge und Zonen der Verwundbarkeit - sozialpsychologische Perspektiven. In H. G. Petzold (Ed.), Identität. Ein Kernthema moderner Psychotherapie - interdisziplinäre Perspektiven (pp. 77–105). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.Google Scholar
Lamont, M., & Molnár, V. (2002). The study of boundaries in the social sciences. Annual Review of Sociology, 28(1), 167–195.Google Scholar
Leber, B. (2017). Police-reported Hate Crime in Canada, 2015. Statistics Canada. Retrieved July 23, 2017, from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2017001/article/14832-eng.pdf.Google Scholar
Locke, K. (2001). Grounded theory in management research. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Mahadevan, J. (2015). Nomadic identities and workplace diversity: Implications for theory and practice. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 34(4). doi: http://10.1108/EDI-03-2015-0014.Google Scholar
Mahadevan, J., & Mayer, C.H. (2017). Muslim minorities, workplace diversity and reflexive HRM. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Major, B., Spencer, S., Schmader, T., Wolfe, C., & Crocker, J. (1998). Coping with negative stereotypes about intellectual performance: The role of psychological disengagement. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24(1), 34–50.Google Scholar
Marcia, J. E. (1966). Development and validation of ego-identity status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3(5), 551.Google Scholar
Marcia, J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. Handbook of adolescent psychology, 9(11), 159–187.Google Scholar
Mayer, C. H. (2008). Managing conflicts across cultures, values and identities. Marburg: Tectum.Google Scholar
Mayer, C. H., & Flotman, A. P. (2017). Constructing identity: Implications for reflexive HRM. In J. Mahadevan, & H. C. Mayer (Eds.), Muslim minorities, workplace diversity and reflexive HRM (pp. 61–76). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Mayer, C. H., & Louw, L. (2011). Managerial challenges in South Africa. European Business Review, 23(6), 572–591.Google Scholar
Moyser, S. (2017). Women and paid work (Catalogue no. 89-503-X). Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2017 from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2015001/article/14694-eng.pdf.Google Scholar
Murray, P. A., & Ali, F. (2017). Agency and coping strategies for ethnic and gendered minorities at work. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(8), 1236–1260.Google Scholar
Patton, M. Q. (2010). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Peteet, B. J., Montgomery, L., & Weekes, J. C. (2015). Predictors of imposter phenomenon among talented ethnic minority undergraduate students. The Journal of Negro Education, 84(2), 175–186.Google Scholar
Phillips, K. W., Rothbard, N. P., & Dumas, T. L. (2009). To disclose or not to disclose? Status distance and self-disclosure in diverse environments. Academy of Management Review, 34(4), 710–732.Google Scholar
Pierné, G. (2013). Hiring discrimination based on national origin and religious closeness: Results from a field experiment in the paris area. IZA Journal of Labor Economics, 2(1), 1–15. doi: http://10.1186/2193-8997-2-4.Google Scholar
Pinel, E. C. (1999). Stigma consciousness: The psychological legacy of social stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(1), 114.Google Scholar
Posetti, J. (2007). Unveiling news coverage of Muslim women. The International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations: Annual Review, 6(5), 69–80. doi: http://10.18848/1447-9532/CGP/v07i05/39465.Google Scholar
Quader, M. (2012). A characteristic model of successful women entrepreneurs in the UK. Journal of Services Research, 12(1), 101–131.Google Scholar
Ragins, B. R. (2008). Disclosure disconnects: Antecedents and consequences of disclosing invisible stigmas across life domains. Academy of Management Review, 33(1), 194–215.Google Scholar
Reid, E. (2015). Embracing, passing, revealing, and the ideal worker image: How people navigate expected and experienced professional identities. Organization Science, 26(4), 997–1017.Google Scholar
Riemer, F. J., Quartaroli, M. T., & Lapan, S. D. (2012). Qualitative research: An introduction to methods and designs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Shams, T. (2015). Bangladeshi Muslims in Mississippi: Impression management based on the intersectionality of religion, ethnicity, and gender. Cultural Dynamics, 27(3), 379–397.Google Scholar
Sheridan, L. P. (2006). Islamophobia pre– and Post–September 11th, 2001. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21(3), 317–336.Google Scholar
Sian, K. P., Law, I., & Sayyid, S. (2013). Routledge advances in sociology: Racism, governance, and public policy: Beyond human rights . London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Silberman, R., Alba, R., & Fournier, I. (2007). Segmented assimilation in France? Discrimination in the labour market against the second generation. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30(1), 1–27.Google Scholar
Speziale, H. S., Streubert, H. J., & Carpenter, D. R. (2011). Qualitative research in nursing: Advancing the humanistic imperative. China: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (2016). 2011 National Household Survey: Data tables 99-010-X2011032. Retrieved July 23, 2017, from http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (2011). Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada, 2011 National Household Survey (Statisics Canada Catalogue no. 99-010-X2011001). Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2017, from http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-010-x/99-010-x2011001-eng.pdf.Google Scholar
Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797.Google Scholar
Syed, I. U. (2013). Forced Assimilation is an unhealthy policy intervention: The case of the hijab ban in France and Quebec, Canada. The International Journal of Human Rights, 17(3), 428–440.Google Scholar
Syed, J., & Ali, A. J. (2010). Principles of employment relations in Islam: A normative view. Employee Relations, 32(5), 454–469.Google Scholar
Syed, J., & Özbilgin, M. (2009). A relational framework for international transfer of diversity management practices. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(12), 2435–2453.Google Scholar
Syed, J., & Pio, E. (2010). Veiled diversity: Workplace experiences of Muslim women in Australia. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 27, 115–137.Google Scholar
Syed, J., & Pio, E. (2017). Muslim diaspora in the West and international HRM. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 28(8), 1109–1118.Google Scholar
Syed, J., & Tariq, M. (2017). Paradox of gender and leadership in India: A critical review of Mardaani. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 6(3), 365–379.Google Scholar
Syed, J., & Van Buren, H. J. (2014). Global business norms and Islamic views of women’s employment. Business Ethics Quarterly, 24(2), 251–276.Google Scholar
Taylor, C. (1989). Sources of the self: The making of the modern identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Thomas, D. C., Brannen, M. Y., & Garcia, D. (2010). Bicultural individuals and intercultural effectiveness. European Journal of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, 1(4), 315–333.Google Scholar
Trefalt, Š. (2013). Between you and me: Setting work-nonwork boundaries in the context of workplace relationships. Academy of Management Journal, 56(6), 1802–1829.Google Scholar
Tyson, K., Darity, W., & Castellino, D. R. (2005). It’s not a “black thing”: Understanding the burden of acting White and other dilemmas of high achievement. American Sociological Review, 70(4), 582–605.Google Scholar
Van Laar, C., Belle Derks, B., & Ellemers, N. (2013). Motivation for education and work in young Muslim women: The importance of value for ingroup domains. Basic and Applied Social Psychology Review, 35(1), 64–74.Google Scholar
Watson, T.J. (2008). Managing identity. Identity work, personal predicaments and structural circumstances. Organization, 15(1), 121–143.Google Scholar
Yap, M. (2010). Slicing and dicing the gender racial earnings differentials. International Journal of Manpower, 31(4), 466–488.Google Scholar
Yoshino, K. (2007). Covering: The hidden assault on our civil rights. New York, NY: Random House Trade Paperbacks.Google Scholar
Zine, J. (2006). Unveiled sentiments: Gendered Islamophobia and experiences of veiling among Muslim girls in a Canadian Islamic school. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39(3), 239–252.Google Scholar
Zuzelo, P. (2016). The whole self as a sexually diverse being: Authentic holism. Holistic Nursing Practice, 30(1), 58–60.Google Scholar