INTRODUCTION
Questions about how we define diversity are emerging in both academic and organizational discourses. While categories of identity such as gender and race provide critically important conceptual frames for defining diversity, they are inadequate in and of themselves, given that within-group diversity is often greater than between-group diversity (Ely & Thomas, Reference Ely and Thomas2001; Bendl, Fleischmann, & Walenta, Reference Berger and Luckmann2008). Further, different ethnic groups face different degrees of discrimination, and socio-economic status often intersects with race (Hum & Simpson, Reference Hum and Simpson2000; Yap, Reference Yap2010; Block, Galabuzi, Weiss, & Wellesley Institute, Reference Bowbly and Lloyd-Evans2014). Increasingly, scholars reject binary, fixed, or essentialist definitions of identity. Many now argue that race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality and ability operate as fluid, reciprocal, mutually constructing phenomena (e.g., Silberman, Alba, & Fournier, Reference Silberman, Alba and Fournier2007; Acker, Reference Acker2012; Al Ariss, Vassilopoulou, Özbilgin, & Game, Reference Al Ariss, Vassilopoulou, Özbilgin and Game2013).
One million Muslims comprise 3.2% of the population in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2016). However, there is considerable diversity within the community. More than two-thirds (68%) of Muslims living in Canada were born outside of Canada in countries such as Pakistan, Iran, and Morocco (Environics Institute, 2016). Further, religious practices differ among Muslims, who identify with sects such as Sunni and Shia (Kazemipur, Reference Kazemipur2014; Golnaraghi & Dye, Reference Golnaraghi and Dye2016). Although the majority of Muslims in Canada follow Sunni Islam, a sizeable minority adhere to Shia Islam, including the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam (Environics Institute, 2016).
Post-9/11, Muslims in Canada face more discrimination than other groups (Sheridan, Reference Sheridan2006; Statistics Canada, 2011; Leber, Reference Leber2017). Most scholarship on Muslim identity focuses on barriers and experiences of discrimination faced by Muslims in the workplace (Adida, Laitin, & Valfort, Reference Adida, Laitin and Valfort2010; Pierné, Reference Pierné2013; Van Laar, Belle Derks, & Ellemers, Reference Van Laar, Belle Derks and Ellemers2013), how Muslims are constructed as ‘Other’ (Bowbly & Lloyd-Evans, Reference Branine and Pollard2009), stereotypes that associate Muslims with extremism, and negative perceptions of Muslims as ‘radical, fanatical, [and] fundamentalist’ (Sian, Law, & Sayyid, Reference Sian, Law and Sayyid2013: 85). There has been less exploration of how Muslims themselves, particularly Muslim women, construct and navigate their identities in contexts such as the workplace, choosing to reveal or conceal various dimensions of their identities. When the worker enters the job market, they bring with them personal, religious, and cultural values (Branine & Pollard, Reference Beasley and Fischer2010) and this can pose a challenge to human resource management practices (Mayer & Flotman, Reference Mayer and Flotman2017).
Drawing on intersectionality as a theoretical framework (Crenshaw Reference Crenshaw1997; Syed & Tariq, Reference Syed and Tariq2017), this paper explores the ways in which young professional Muslim women construct and ‘perform’ their identities in the Canadian context. Building on research examining identity construction of ethnic minorities in the workplace (Bell & Nkomo, Reference Bendl, Fleischmann and Walenta2001) and the lived experiences of Muslim women (Essers & Benschop, Reference Essers and Benschop2009; Syed & Tariq, Reference Syed and Tariq2017). We examine multidimensionality of the identities of professional Muslim women in terms of how they negotiate their identities while confronting stereotypes and navigating organizational interactions (Shams, Reference Shams2015). We focus on how Muslim women express or suppress aspects of their identity at work, depending on context; that is, this study considers how and when Muslim women disclose and performed identity in a context of broader Islamophobia. We further examine how marginalized women react to institutional discrimination (Quader, Reference Quader2012).
Social identities
Theoretical and empirical explorations of identity have been framed in a variety of ways. From a psychological perspective, life experience, beliefs, and behaviors shape identity formation (Marcia, Reference Marcia1966, Reference Marcia1980; Erikson, Reference Erikson1994). Philosophical and ethical notions of identity emphasize respect for others, an understanding of what makes life good, and notions of dignity (Taylor, Reference Taylor1989). Sociologists Berger and Luckmann (Reference Berger and Luckmann1991) proposed that socialization and the influence of others initially shape identity but that over time the individual creates multiple realities connected to parts of the self, shaped in part by social roles as well as context (e.g., family, coworkers, friends often see different aspects of a person’s identity). Building on these ideas, Keupp (Reference Keupp2012) saw identity as complex and pluralistic, manifesting differently in different contexts. Multiple identities can create dissonance when an individual does not feel accepted or recognized in terms of the way she or he created her or his identity through self and/or through others (Mayer & Flotman, Reference Mayer and Flotman2017).
Overall, organizational studies research has focused on the tension between worker identity and the organizational ‘regulation’ of worker identity; in other words, how people construct and perform their identities in the workplace (Alvesson & Willmott, Reference Alvesson and Willmott2002; Reid, Reference Reid2015) and the ambivalence that workers may have about the expectations of their organizations (Gagnon & Collinson, Reference Gagnon and Collinson2017). While some targets for discrimination are clearly visible (e.g., skin color), individuals may manage or ‘cover’ other indicators such as religion in an effort to conform (Yoshino, Reference Yoshino2007). Yet, in other instances, some identities are not clearly visible (e.g., certain disabilities, sexual orientation, or religion) and individuals may choose to conceal such identities because of perceived as risks associated with a stigmatized group identity (Clair, Beatty, & MacLean, Reference Clair, Beatty and MacLean2005; Ragins, Reference Ragins2008; Goffman, Reference Goffman2014). Watson defines ‘identity work,’ as a process through which individuals ‘strive to shape a relatively coherent and distinctive notion of personal self-identity and struggle to come to terms with… [and] to influence the various social-identities which pertain to them in the various milieux in which they live their lives’ (Reference Watson2008: 129).
In organizations, identities are often constructed and externally imposed through stereotyping and other cultural processes (Mayer & Louw, Reference Mayer and Louw2011; Hogg & Terry, Reference Hogg and Terry2014). Alongside Syed and Pio’s research (Reference Syed and Pio2017), scholars such as Mayer and Flotman (Reference Mayer and Flotman2017) have noted how the complex and fluid ‘web’ of identity markers (e.g., gender, race, and ethnicity) impact identity experiences at work at multiple levels. Mahadevan (Reference Mahadevan2015) states that identity as a concept is fluid; multi-faceted or ‘nomadic identities’ are more common in the workplace than ‘essentialized’ or ‘fixed’ identity categories, and mobility and migration bring further complexity to the social dynamics of the workplace.
Building on Goffman’s (Reference Goffman1963) concepts of ‘passing’ and ‘revealing,’ DeJordy (Reference DeJordy2008) describes individuals’ efforts to control others’ beliefs about their identities. Drawing on the literature on stigmatized social identities, he developed a ‘model of passing’ in organizational contexts, where ‘individuals with invisible stigmatized social identities consciously and deliberately decide not to reveal them.’ Evasion of self-expression creates an environment in which individuals experience heightened self-regulation and situational awareness and ‘passing’ often results in disengagement from the organizational social context, which can negatively affect organizational performance. Supporting this, Phillips, Rothbard, and Dumas (Reference Phillips, Rothbard and Dumas2009) consider how status differences within an organization affects the management of stigmatized individual identities, and Trefalt (Reference Trefalt2013) demonstrates how trust and the quality of relationships can affect decisions to reveal or conceal such identities.
Murray and Ali (Reference Murray and Ali2017) note that individuals regularly adapt their identity expression to different contextual pressures. Brown (Reference Brown2004) discusses the facets of identity that emerge in different contexts, and uses the term ‘shift framing’ to describe the individual’s decision to emphasize the aspects of identity appropriate to a particular setting and de-emphasize others. The term ‘code-switch’ has also been used to describe how individuals who identify with marginalized groups behave to cope with the fear of discrimination, and to eliminate its potential (Major, Spencer, Schmader, Wolfe, & Crocker, Reference Major, Spencer, Schmader, Wolfe and Crocker1998; Thomas, Brannen, & Garcia, Reference Thomas, Brannen and Garcia2010). The success of famous actors and political figures who are Black, for example, has often been associated with their ability to ‘act white,’ or to mimic the behaviors and speech patterns of this dominant social group (Fordham & Ogbu, Reference Fordham and Ogbu1986; Tyson, Darity, & Castellino, Reference Tyson, Darity and Castellino2005). At the same time, it can make one vulnerable to criticism from one’s own community. Similarly, in organizations, where identity markers are less visible, racialized individuals can adopt mainstream behaviors to ‘pass’ as part of the dominant culture.
Identity work is unavoidable for Muslim individuals living in Canada. Although there are elements of shared experience for Muslims – in part because a ‘homogenous identity’ is often imposed on this diverse group because of Islamophobia (Døving, Reference Døving2010; Mayer & Flotman, Reference Mayer and Flotman2017) – Muslim identities are shaped by lived experience as well as ‘a complex web of ethnicity, gender, sect, class, and socio-cultural influences of their adopted homes – either as migrants, refugees, expatriates, or business partners’ (Syed & Pio, Reference Syed and Pio2017). Further, Syed and Pio (Reference Syed and Pio2010) emphasize that Muslim women should not be treated as a monolithic group, given the considerable differences that exist between them. For Muslim women in particular, identity work is an ongoing and discursive process that an individual engages in throughout her life, as she navigates her personal growth and development within ever-shifting public dimensions. Social barriers and boundaries create stratifications in society in terms of social identity groupings. This renders the navigation of those boundaries a primary task for ‘minority’ groups, which majority group members do not experience in the same way or to the same extent (Lamont & Molnár, Reference Lamont and Molnár2002).
Accommodation of Muslims in the workplace based on personal and cultural identity, such as accommodations for prayer space or dietary restrictions, have important implications (Croucher, Faulkner, Oommen, & Long, Reference Croucher, Faulkner, Oommen and Long2010). Muslims and others who wear physical manifestations of a non-Christian faith (e.g., the wearing of the hijab) experience heightened levels of discrimination in a variety of forms. Unlike the physical manifestations of some cultures and/or religions that may be easily hidden, the hijab (like the Sikh turban) is a visible cultural and/or religious symbol that marks the boundary between Muslims and non-Muslims (Humphreys & Brown, Reference Humphreys and Brown2002).
The experience of gender-based discrimination remains a common dimension of the experience of women in the workplace (Mayer, Reference Mayer2008; Moyser, Reference Moyser2017) and these barriers compound for racialized women. Many women feel that they are excluded from opportunities and held to a higher standard than their male colleagues, and this is more acute for racialized women (Cukier, Yap, Holmes, Rodrigues, & Grant, Reference Cukier, Yap, Holmes, Rodrigues and Grant2009). A recent survey of Muslims in Canada by the Environics Institute (2016) indicated that one in three women identify personally with the top issues facing their community: discrimination or poor treatment (15%), Islamophobia (13%), and stereotyping by the media (12%).
In Canada, as in other parts of the Western world, the hijab has been a trigger for debates about Islam and about gender; unfortunately, this debate sometimes functions as an outlet for the spread of Islamophobia (Zine, Reference Zine2006), masquerading as a concern about the oppression of women.
For example, in 2004, after 15 years of debate and controversy, France passed a law banning the wearing of headscarves in public schools (Fernando & Joppke, Reference Fernando and Joppke2009). In 2017, the Canadian province of Quebec passed a similar law barring public workers from wearing the niqab or burqa and forcing citizens to unveil when riding public transit or receiving government services. Syed (Reference Syed2013) suggested that failing to acknowledge the cultural aspects of hijab and forcing ‘Muslim female students to shed their essential religious dress code’ results in health challenges and other negative consequences (Syed, Reference Syed2013). While there has been a great deal of international debate regarding the hijab, such debates are beyond the scope of this paper. The focus of our study is to examine the existence of ‘multiple identities’ of Muslim women in different contexts their implications.
Research methods
Questions and sample description
This study explores the multidimensionality of young professional Muslim women’s identities and how Muslim women reveal and conceal their socially constructed identity based on their lived experiences. This builds on a previous qualitative study examining Muslim women in senior leadership roles, including their definitions of success, the ways that they negotiate their organizational environments, and the interventions that promote inclusion in leadership (Chraibi & Cukier, Reference Chraibi and Cukier2017). We dive more deeply into the aspects of identity are expressed or suppressed depending on context, and why this expression or suppression occurs. Our qualitative analysis of women’s accounts complements recent large-scale surveys of Muslim men and women in Canada (e.g., Environics Institute, 2016, 2017).
Drawing on interviews with 23 young professional Muslim women we explored the following research questions:
RQ1: How can we understand the diversity of Muslim women’s identities?
RQ2: How and when do young professional Muslim women ‘perform’ their identities? What identity work do they do? That is, when and how do they work to influence the multiple social identities that pertain to them in the various milieux in which they live their lives? (Watson, Reference Watson2008)
RQ3: What forms of discrimination do Muslim women experience in the workplace and, more generally, how do these help us understand the above questions?
Sample description
All of the 23 participants in the study currently identified as Muslim except for one who was raised in a Shia-Muslim household but has since converted to Christianity. In total, 19 participants identified as being from the Sunni sect of Islam, and two identified themselves as Ismaili. One person identified as both Sunni and Shia, as she believed that her spiritual practice incorporated both belief systems (one parent was Sunni and the other was a practicing Shia). Although the majority of our participants are from the Sunni sect, we do not analyze participants’ responses at the level of sect – the purpose of this research was not to compare across different sects of Islam, but instead to provide a general understanding of how young Muslim professional women identify in the workplace.
Nine were born in Canada, and 14 were born outside of Canada. They identified as Pakistani (5), Somalian (2), Malaysian (2), Bengali (1), Russian (1), Moroccan (1), Arab (3), Lebanese (3), Indian (4), ‘mixed’ or having multiple ethnicities (3), Indian/East African (2), and Pakistani/Indian-East African (1). All participants are fluent in English; however, participants’ first languages included Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati, Somali, and Farsi. Some wore visible signs of their religion, such as the hijab, but most did not. At the time of the interviews, the participants were between 24 and 38 years of age, and resided and worked in Canada. They had an average work experience of 5 years in a Canadian organization – typically in the mid-stages of their careers, but below senior leadership roles. Participants worked in government, corporate, and non-profit organizations.
Table 1 summarizes the demographics of the respondents.
Table 1 Summary of the demographics of the respondents
Data collection
We took a qualitative approach to understand the perspectives of Muslim women working in Canadian organizations and to explore their lived experiences through their personal accounts (Speziale, Streubert, & Carpenter, Reference Speziale, Streubert and Carpenter2011). We focused on young professional womenFootnote 1 in order to provide a degree of consistency in our sample. We selected participants through personal and professional connections established through previous community outreach initiatives, and used a snowball technique where participants assisted in recruiting other interviewees from among their acquaintances. Snowball sampling is particularly appropriate when the members of a specific population are difficult to locate or access (Denzin & Lincoln, Reference Denzin and Lincoln2011). To help build rapport with the participants, the interviews were conducted by one of the authors of this paper who is female, identifies as Muslim, and is similar in age to the participants (Glassner & Loughlin, Reference Glassner and Loughlin1987). Interviews were one-on-one and conducted over the phone to enable description of participants’ personal experience (Riemer, Quartaroli, & Lapan, Reference Riemer, Quartaroli and Lapan2012) lasting 45–60 min. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. After the 13th interview, the interviewer found that the same themes were recurring in participants’ responses, and while some insights were deepened, few new themes were given by additional source data. The interviewer conducted an additional 10 interviews to ensure that saturation in this form was reached (Patton, Reference Patton2010).
Thematic analysis
Thematic analysis offered an accessible and theoretically flexible framework to analyze qualitative data (Braun & Clarke, Reference Braun and Clarke2006). Our analysis focused on themes related to identity and its enactment in the workplace, following six phases. In the first phase, the authors reviewed the transcripts to develop both an overview and a deeper familiarity with the data, reading for initial emerging themes. Moving from these broad observations, the second phase involved a closer thematic coding of the data, in order to break down these observations and understand their varieties and dimensions (Locke, Reference Locke2001). We developed codes by reviewing our understandings of the participants’ accounts, alongside established notions of identity construction, fluidity, performativity, and stigma from the literature. The third phase involved searching for themes, followed by the fourth phase, which is a review of the themes. This phase supported earlier findings, where the authors noted the diversity of Muslim identities in different contexts, with strong evidence of the stereotyping and ‘essentializing’ of Muslims according to an imposed identity. We discovered that participants’ management of their identities involved considerable psychological energy; in other words, Muslims were often required to take action involving ‘identity work’ that non-minorities and non-Muslims do not encounter in their day-to-day lives. The fifth phase focuses on defining and naming the themes. We then moved on to our final analysis to better understand the themes and their characteristics, and confirm our findings. This resulted in our three main identity work strategies: (i) identity disclosure; (ii) concealment; and (iii) adaptation. Lastly, the sixth phase focuses on the write-up (Braun & Clarke, Reference Braun and Clarke2006; Patton, Reference Patton2010).
FINDINGS
Four main themes emerged from our analysis: (1) the complexities and diversity of identity; (2) how Muslims disclose or conceal their identity; (3) Islamophobia and discrimination as part of the context for young Muslim women’s identity work; and (4) the need for better support in the workplace. The complexity of Muslim women’s experiences in the workplace – including the role of family, politics, and/or patriarchy – became clear. Our themes lend support to findings from earlier studies that have examined interplays between ethnicity, gender, faith, class, immigrant/migrant status. Beyond this contribution, we have extended an understanding of the complexities involved in the diversity of Muslim women’s experience and how they are required to ‘perform identity’ for the benefit of others.
Identity diversity
This study found significant differences among interviewees with regard to how they discussed their Muslim identity, which demonstrates the complexities found in work by Essers and Benschop (Reference Essers and Benschop2009), Syed & Pio (Reference Syed and Pio2017) and Syed & Van Buren (Reference Syed and Van Buren2014). In describing their identity, respondents distinguished between their personal identity and the identity that they ‘project’ into the world. This distinction centered on very different expressions of their faith in terms of religious practices, beliefs, and actions. Some were clear that they reflect their religion in their practice, while others believed that their overall behavior exhibited Muslim ‘qualities.’ In other words, some participants felt that their way of practicing Islam was a personal matter reflected in the way they conducted themselves. They maintained that their beliefs were manifest in values and ethics rather than in religious practice or dress. This finding echoes Syed and Ali’s (Reference Syed and Ali2010): despite varied ways of practicing and different interpretations of Islam, ‘it is possible to identify a common emphasis on ethical conduct (of employer and employee) and social justice in Islamic ideology’ (Reference Syed and Ali2010: 455). For example, one participant stated that:
I identify as being Muslim. I believe in most of the teachings of Islam. I do fast during Ramadan and pray, I don’t feel it’s necessary to dress a certain way if you’re a practicing Muslim. I don’t know how to describe my Muslim identity. I’ve never known how to answer that question. I feel I have the right to practice my religion the way I want to and I feel comfortable doing so. (P-13)
Another stated that after doing research on Islam in her adult life, she approached religion through spirituality, and that her spiritual practices were not based on being Muslim (P-17). Some noted that they have adapted traditional Muslim religious practices: ‘I pray before I sleep every night. I don’t pray five times a day but I’d say once a day, and I’m comfortable with that’ (P-19). Several participants discussed the complexity and fluidity of their expressions of religious identity, and explained how this evolved over time:
It [my identity] has changed throughout the years. When I was younger obviously I was going to [Islamic] classes… to learn about religion and the prophet’s life…I had to live a certain way… to be perceived as Muslim, like wearing a hijab. As I grew older I did my own research and took more courses, I find it now to be, it is what you make it. (P-01)
Identity diversity: wearing the hijab
An important theme within the diversity of Muslim identity involved participants’ explanations of the divergent processes that led them to wear, or not wear, a hijab. Sometimes this involved family pressure or expectations; for others, it was a personal choice. One participant said, ‘It was just something that [my dad] thought I had to do… and when I didn’t follow his instructions… he was mad for some time and then he’d get over it’ (P-08). Another said,
Initially I was doing it to really cater to my family… I’m torn between giving my mom a sense of security and feeling like I’m doing right by my mom, and I’m honouring my mom, being a good daughter to my mom, and that being, you know, a strong tenet that you honour your mother, you know, the prophet said that paradise lies at the feet of your mother. (P-23)
Others had worn the hijab at some points in their life, but then made a conscious decision not to wear it. Some participants navigated between family expectations and work requirements by putting it on or taking it off, depending on context. However, the reasons given for wearing the hijab were often more complex than simply responding to family pressure or religious obligations. This finding shows the complexity inherent in each choice made by Muslim women in our sample as well as the factors that led to these choices in terms of expressing their identities. For example, consider the following two contrasting statements:
It wasn’t until 9/11 when I actually started to think about, I have to really sit down and think about whether or not I was gonna keep it on. That’s when things started to become more optional at work … And then it from there became more of a political thing. So it was just an opportunity to educate people and to, kind of, hopefully, you know, be an ambassador … If anybody, I was the only Muslim they’d ever meet, I’d want them to know, that I’m just a normal human being. (P-23)
I don’t think wearing the hijab is necessary for my spiritual experience, and um, I’m very content with that spiritually, but the hijab also has a lot of cultural weight, um, that I haven’t decided to release yet …What does it mean as an identity? I mean I wear a hijab, I think these days it’s more of a political statement than it is a religious one. But I wear it so that I can hopefully educate people about what it actually means to be Muslim as opposed to what they see on their TV screens. (P-06)
Identity strategies: disclosure, concealment, and adaptation
Throughout the interviews, the participants emphasized that the stigma associated with a stereotypical and homogenous Muslim identity, imposed on Muslim women by others, bore little relationship to their expression of their identity. Our data suggested a range of different strategies used in response to external pressure. We label these identity management strategies: (1) disclosure, (2) concealment, and (3) adaptation. Disclosure refers to participants’ accounts of how they communicate or express aspects of their religious identity, and ‘concealment’ describes actions that hide aspects of one’s religious identity, including ‘passing’ and ‘creating alternate explanations’ for behaviors. Finally, ‘adaptation’ is a complex strategy that manifests in an almost unconscious switching from one identity to another, according to the demands of the situation. We determined that these categories were not fully distinct, and identity work often involved a blend of disclosing and concealing. Muslim women were often compelled to make decisions about their identity based on ideas that are both implicitly and explicitly imposed on the individual by the organization – their identity work can thus be seen as an exercise in ‘walking on eggshells.’
Young women’s accounts of the broader context of prejudice or Islamophobia demonstrate why such a range of strategies might be needed. Most described the importance of context, and decisions about strategy were often shaped by participants’ assessments of their immediate environment. Certainly, most were aware of the stigmatization that comes with being Muslim, and some were explicit about how the fear of rejection shaped their decisions. For example:
Especially in this day and age where being Muslim is also like so often associated with being terrorists. Sometimes, there’s some demographic where I feel comfortable saying, oh I’m Muslim and then they’re like oh. People are interested and they want to know, or there are sometimes when I feel like it’s something I want to downplay because I don’t want to people to feel intimidated or, you know, whatever. You kind of have to play it by ear and it depends on who your audience is . (P-17)
Concealing (‘Passing’)
The first ‘concealing’ strategy that we found in this study could also be described as a ‘passing’ strategy. Several examples of passing emerged in the interviews. For instance, in the workplace, passing strategies were often used by younger or more junior women in our sample to conceal their Muslim identities in their professional lives. This finding suggests the importance of seniority to one’s identity work, as well as to the scope of freedom of expression at work. Despite the freedoms granted by seniority, many Muslim women still prefer concealment strategies unless explicitly asked about their Muslim identity.
I’m not overtly Muslim in the sense that you can’t look at me and immediately think I’m Muslim. I don’t wear a hijab…. I could be Christian or Hindu or whatever. People don’t automatically think I’m Muslim. Plus my first name and my last name is [not obviously Muslim]. People don’t know what to make of me until I start maybe talking about my ethnicity or where I was born and raised. (P-13)
Another participant spoke specifically of the way in which her Muslim identity was naturally concealed by her ‘proximity to whiteness’:
You know someone I was speaking with one time talked to me about ‘proximity to whiteness’… and I was like ‘yeah maybe that’s kind of a little bit of what has happened, or maybe what people interpret when they see me’ is that yeah I kind of blend in with everybody else. I may look different, but I don’t lead with my religion. (P-07)
Concealing: creating alternate explanations
Another type of ‘concealment’ strategy involved creating alternate explanations for one’s behavior, such as performing their identity through their nationality, or speaking about food preferences in ways that did not denote their Muslim identity. ‘If they say, well, what’s your background… I usually don’t say my background is Muslim. I usually would say I’m from Kenya, but I’m Indian, and that’s the conversation’ (P-08). Other participants found a different phrasing to express their Muslim beliefs: ‘sometimes I pretend I am pescetarian, because it is easier” (P-05), or “I would just say that I’m vegetarian – largely I am vegetarian, but I didn’t want to have to tell people that I can’t eat something because I’m Muslim and I only eat halal” (P-22).
Adaptation
‘Adaptation’ often involves long-term practice by the Muslim individual, immersing oneself in very different cultural, social, and organizational environments to which one was eventually able to ‘adapt to.’ This adaptation is not always a fully conscious effort, and partially occurs unconsciously through prolonged exposure. In some instances, however, it was clear that ‘survival’ in the context required intentional forms of adaptation that included concealing aspects of identity.
I grew up in a small town, I had an upbringing that had both western and eastern cultures… it was pointed out to me that I behave differently when I am around different people. When I am in my work mode, my English is perfect, I don’t have an accent. I don’t use hand gestures when I speak. I am clear and direct with my conversations…When I am at home or with my South Asian friends, it has been pointed out to that I begin speaking with an accent and I tend to use more hand gestures, I even tap people when I am talking…my dad who grew up in a rural village does the same the thing… Apparently I turn into a storyteller, I am not conscious of it and unknowingly begin to speak mixture of Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi, although English is my first language. My table manners change and I use my hands more when I eat… (P-09)
Table 2 below presents additional study data associated with Muslim identity and work strategies.
Table 2 Illustrative quotes for three major identity work strategies
Experiences of Islamophobia and discrimination
Accounts of discrimination provided by the women who participated in our study covered a full range of experiences – from perceived unconscious bias and micro-aggressions to overt discrimination and even physical violence. All of these, arguably, were the result of stereotypes of Muslims that constitute an essentialized identity imposed on individuals. Discrimination and negative stereotyping are a serious concern to Canadian Muslim women and youth: one in three Canadian Muslims have reported experiencing discrimination in public settings such as retail establishments, the workplace, schools, or universities due to religion or ethnicity (Environics Institute, 2016). Women, in particular, have been victims of random physical attacks, particularly if they are wearing a hijab (Leber, Reference Leber2017).
Some participants referenced frightening developments in the United States, whereas others focused on assaults in Canada. As one participant observed, ‘people’s hijabs are being pulled off, people are being made fun of. It’s in high school and university, where Muslim students are getting harassed’ (P-08). Another participant felt that ‘Muslim women…are a lot more vulnerable to attack … so [it’s] understood, that, you know, we would just call a cab’ (P-22). One participant shared the following, disturbing observation:
It really is um, hurtful when people receive you negatively, and assume that you wearing the headscarf is somehow slighting, you know, a Canada that they once knew… you feel that you’ve put a target on your back, or a target on your head, more literally, and people are going to direct their spew at you, and so, I think after every international/Paris attack that’s happened, I had felt really unsafe in the public subway system…one of my sisters got chased by a guy who said he was going to stab her, she got off the bus, and a guy followed her out, and he said ‘I’m going to stab you because your people killed my people in Paris and you guys won’t ever stop’ and my sister’s running for her life, and this guy is chasing her, there’s nobody who’s intervening. (P-23)
Others felt that their identity as Muslim had been a barrier to career advancement:
I had a harder time being able to get those positions even though I had all the experience required because I was told that I don’t fit the profile of what they’re looking for. And often it was because it was a public-facing position and there was supposed to be a lot of face time with high-end donors. They didn’t say it in that way, but essentially what they were implying was that they didn’t feel that I would be able to relate well enough with the donors that they felt were high-end and you know, would need to be “wined and dined”… (P-06)
Many participants also spoke about the assumptions about gender that people make when confronted with visible markers of Muslim identity. One participant mentioned how Muslim law students who wear the hijab are concerned about their job prospects because of how the hijab ‘looks’ to non-Muslim clients. Yet, they also experience stigma from Muslim men who believe that women’s Muslim identity is tied to their hijab (P-08). The extent to which misogyny was referenced – perhaps even more than Islamophobia or discrimination based on religion – was also important and notable.
So in my current role, I probably will never become the executive director…[it’s]…male dominated. Many of our donors are Muslim, are Mosque directed. They want somebody who’s male to be able to be the face of the organization. So that’s a clear barrier that I have to deal with. And having travelled, now across the country and [met with] the mosque executives. It’s completely blatant and in your face that they’re very sexist and they just don’t know how to deal with women. (P-06)
Several female participants related personal accounts of misogyny and sexism in the workplace, which occurred directly as a result of the Muslim identity imposed on them based on gender.
Unfortunately it’s a sad reality. When I started out in assets management I was new to the country…Given that I grew up in the Ismaili community that tends to have liberal attitudes of women roles… I still grew up in a restricted society like Pakistan. Growing up, my upbringing was such that…we knew that there existed misogyny and sexism. When I came to Canada, I had the opinion as I woman I could do whatever I want. I could excel at any field that I want. My experience in my first career was that it was very, very challenging. (P-18)
Participants were also aware of the lack of diversity in leadership. Several interviewees reported that they felt held to a higher standard than that of their male coworkers, and felt the impact of social barriers that limited their ability to connect with non-Muslim colleagues – stating that white coworkers typically support one another more frequently than they support the advancement of visible minorities:
Like I personally know that if I want to get somewhere, I’m going to have to work double as hard as someone else and I’m okay with it, so I know that from an advancement perspective, like a lot of minorities feel that way, as well. So if, you know, upper management is white, predominantly white, then they tend to hire predominantly white for let’s say senior management and above. (P-20)
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The women interviewed for this study shared several demographic traits: they identified as Muslim, were similar in age (aged 24–38), were at a similar career stage, and were well educated. They were nonetheless also highly diverse in terms of their ethnicity, place of birth, socio-economic status, and religiosity. They were working in organizations across sectors – industry, government, politics, and NGOs – and ranged in status from administrative managers to senior managers. Our findings reaffirm previous research because it suggests that Muslim identity is by no means uniform or monolithic; rather, it varies considerably across individuals despite demographic similarity, as well as the influence of stereotypes that impose certain characteristics onto Muslim identity.
This study extends the findings of previous research by demonstrating the complexity of identity, and the ways in which Muslim women perform and manage their identities (their identity work), in particular given an underlying context of discrimination and what we explain below as the threat of stigmatization. The identity strategies identified above, were tied to different levels of context, both interpersonal, and situational (private or public, work or school, and mosque), but also, we argue, to a broader context that includes ‘fear’ of Islam, and Islamophobia, given the strong theme in our interviewees’ accounts.
Returning to our research questions, we first asked, how can we understand the diversity of Muslim women’s identities? In this study, many participants believed that being Muslim involved a set of beliefs and values manifest in ethical behavior towards others. There was thus an ethical notion of identity that included being respectful of others, and this appeared to underlie the identity narratives regardless of how participants ‘enacted’ or practiced their identity. This is consistent with Taylor’s (Reference Taylor1989) framing of the philosophical and ethical constitution of identity, despite fluidity, well as Syed and Ali’s (Reference Syed and Ali2010) scholarship showing that it is possible to establish a common Islamic ideology to guide Muslims in openly expressing their identity.
Within our study sample, we found clear variety and diversity. Some interviewees placed a higher priority on religious practices – prayer, food, abstaining from alcohol, and wearing modest clothing or the hijab – as an expression of Muslim identity than others, which they saw as essential aspects of their religious faith. Some wore the hijab as an expression of their devotion to Islam, while others wore it because of family pressure. Others saw it as a political act of resistance and confident assertion of an identity that is unfairly treated in the public discourse. Still others distanced themselves from what they termed ‘hijabi women.’ These accounts challenge general notions that Muslim women wearing the hijab are more devout than those who do not. Many respondents rejected the notion that their clothes should be judged as an indicator of their devoutness. Yet others recognized the community expectation: modern clothing, specifically the hijab, is a marker of ‘a good Muslim woman,’ at least in some communities. These findings underline the importance of accounting for the diversity of ways in which shared cultural identities may be enacted in different contexts under a single label, such as ‘Muslim woman.’
Our second research question asked, how and when do young professional Muslim women perform their identities? Here, we found both a high degree of complexity and fluidity over time and across situations in the ways in which interviewees performed and ‘managed’ their identities as Muslims. Throughout the interviews, we found that Muslim women expressed and or suppressed aspects of their identity in the workplace, depending on context.
When participants were in positions of power, they were more open about their religious practices – for example, speaking of openly joking about ‘starving’ during Ramadan, and excusing themselves from meetings where food was served. This is consistent with Goffman’s (Reference Goffman1963) concept of ‘revealing’ as, through their actions, the individual exercises some control of others’ beliefs about their identities. However, many women in our study, consistent with the work of DeJordy (Reference DeJordy2008) on invisible stigmatized social identities, spoke of making deliberate decisions not to reveal aspects of their identities in organizational settings. We label this a concealment strategy and found two main subcategories of this enactment of identity work: ‘passing,’ and ‘creating alternate explanations.’ For example, we saw that individuals spoke about wearing a hijab in certain contexts but not in others, showing a conscious decision to disclose, or not disclose their religious identity in order to ‘pass’ as non-Muslim, depending on the context of their interactions.
Others maintained multiple identities – one at work and with colleagues who might not even know that they are Muslim, and another privately. This involved examples such as stashing their hijabs before they got to school or work, claiming to be pescetarian or vegetarian in order to dodge ‘uncomfortable conversations’ and stigma associated with being Muslim in the ‘outside’ world, while maintaining a traditional Muslim identity at the mosque, in the home or among Muslim friends. These strategies involved crafting alternate explanations to their Muslim identity, as they found the situation warranted. The question remains, why do the participants find this necessary?
Code shifting
Murray and Ali (Reference Murray and Ali2017) note that individuals make decisions about how to adapt to different contextual pressures, in terms of expressing identity. When identity markers are made less visible, for example, when racialized individuals ‘pass’ as part of the dominant culture by adopting mainstream behaviors, this may become a strategy for survival. The behaviors described in comments made by our participants are consistent with ‘code shifting,’ a set of behaviors observed about other minority or marginalized groups. Recognizing the multiple facets of identity and different expectations in different contexts, Brown (Reference Brown2004) referred to code shifting as an individual’s decision to emphasize aspects of identity appropriate to a particular setting and de-emphasize others. In some instances, individuals disassociate with particular aspects of their identity in order to reassure others that they are not actually different. The success of famous actors and political figures who are Black for example, has often been associated with their ability to ‘act white’ or mimic behaviors and speech patterns of the dominant group (Fordham & Ogbu, Reference Fordham and Ogbu1986; Tyson, Darity, & Castellino, Reference Tyson, Darity and Castellino2005). One of our participants actually referred to her ‘proximity to whiteness’ as an advantage.
The ability to ‘code-switch’ – to invoke certain aspects of identity (language, behavior, etc.) in some circumstances or contexts (Thomas, Brannen, & Garcia, Reference Thomas, Brannen and Garcia2010) – has also been identified as one way that individuals from marginalized groups may behave to cope with the fear of discrimination, and to eliminate its potential (Major et al., Reference Major, Spencer, Schmader, Wolfe and Crocker1998). At the same time, it can make one vulnerable to criticism in one’s own community, as one participant, an elected official, noted that she could not, as a result, be ‘the Muslim candidate.’
The third research question focused on the forms of discrimination that young professional Muslim women experience, and further, how their accounts of being targets of discrimination help us to further understand the identity work discussed above. Virtually all of our respondents were highly aware of the stereotypes of Muslims generally, and as will be discussed below, recounted personal experiences of discrimination, micro-aggression and even violence. Such experiences help us to underline the importance of stigmatized social identities (DeJordy, Reference DeJordy2008) within our participants’ reports of consciously and deliberately deciding not to reveal aspects of their identity in organizational settings.
While some characteristics that are the target of discrimination are clearly visible (e.g., skin color), individuals may attempt to manage or ‘cover’ them in an effort to conform (Yoshino, Reference Yoshino2007). In other instances – disability, sexual orientation, or religion – individuals may choose to conceal such identities. Our study supports earlier research that finds concealing is more likely if these are features are associated with a stigmatized group identity subject to discrimination (Clair, Beatty, & MacLean, Reference Clair, Beatty and MacLean2005; Ragins, Reference Ragins2008; Goffman, Reference Goffman2014).
Threat of stigmatization
Steele and Aronson (Reference Steele and Aronson1995) coined the term ‘stereotype threat,’ and through experiments showed the individuals concerns that they would be judged in a certain way, shaped the actual performance of African-American students on examinations. This notion has been applied in other contexts for example with respect to gender. Further, the level of stereotype threat also affects the extent to which individuals will disclose aspects of their identity. As Fryer (Reference Fryer2006) found in his study, Black students who endeavored to ‘act white’ paid a price as their minority peers would ridicule them for engaging in behaviors perceived to be characteristic of whites.
While we do not have direct evidence of an impact on performance, the phenomenon of stereotype threat informs our notion, drawing on our findings, of the threat of stigmatization. We characterize this here as interviewees’ belief that people would make assumptions about them based on knowing that they were Muslim – it is clear that this had profound effects on how they behaved in terms of their identity work. We do not have wider behavioral data, yet the risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s social group leads people to modify their behavior (Beasley & Fischer, Reference Bell and Nkomo2012; Graham, Reference Graham2013; Peteet, Montgomery & Weekes, Reference Peteet, Montgomery and Weekes2015). Pinel (Reference Pinel1999) added the term ‘stigma consciousness’ to discuss individuals’ awareness of stigma. We expand these ideas to the notion of threat of stigmatization to underscore that in the case of Muslims in Canada, given secondary data and studies cited in our literature review, the threat is one of being labeled or ‘branded.’
We would argue that the effects of threat of stigmatization can influence one’s sense of belonging or inclusion, and have an impact on performance in the workplace. In organizational literature, the importance of being able to ‘bring your whole self to work’ and the link between individuals’ inclusion, engagement, and performance is well established (Zuzelo, Reference Zuzelo2016; Mahadevan & Mayer, Reference Mahadevan and Mayer2017). We suggest that this is a key area for future research.
The phenomenon of Islamophobia is well documented in Canada as it is around the world, despite the presence of strong competing political narratives about inclusion and multiculturalism. There is little doubt that the participants in this study were acutely aware of this context and referenced a range of examples of experienced discrimination, or worry about being discriminated against because they were Muslim. The stigmatized Muslim stereotype imposed a mostly unwelcome homogenous identity that all of our participants experienced. The contradictions between how they were seen (the imposed identity) and how they self-identified (their expressed and performed identity) caused great discomfort, concern and distress. At the same time, gender-based discrimination seemed to be a further significant issue among our participants. Further study needs to be devoted to the area of multiple perceptions and beliefs on stigmatization and how it excludes some women and creates barriers of engagement into society. We hope that our study helps to spur such work.
Overall, the study affirmed findings from previous work but also raised some new and interesting perspectives on the ways in which Muslim identity is constructed and performed. On one hand, religiosity for some was a deeply felt belief system, while the dimensions of the beliefs deemed to be important, varied. On the other hand, Muslim identity was a set of practices that some saw as tied to the beliefs and others did not. Even where they believe such practices to be important and a manifestation of faith, some women felt strongly inhibited in sharing or expressing their identity because of fears ranging from stigmatization and discrimination to violence. Their identity work consisted in sometimes intricate strategies of disclosure, concealment, and adaptation, which non-Muslims would be unlikely to need to enact. Clearly more research is warranted to explore the effects of these dynamics on the workplace. It would also seem clear that much more work needs to be done to build truly inclusive communities.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the staff of the Diversity Institute (Ryerson University) for their support with the research of the article and also thank the Editor Dr. Jawad Syed, for his time, support and feedback for this article.
About the Authors
Ruby Latif holds a Master’s of Leadership from the University of Guelph and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Social Sciences at Royal Roads University, Canada. With over 15 years of experience in Canadian politics, Ruby is a practitioner–scholar who is applying her wide range of experiences to interdisciplinary work to better understand complex, real-world problems such as the intersection of diversity (gender, race, religion) and leadership.
Wendy Cukier, PhD, DU (Hon) LLD (Hon) M.S.C. (civilian) is Professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada and the founder of the Diversity Institute. In addition to working on large-scale empirical projects, she has pioneered evidence-based action research on diversity and leadership with a focus on the intersection of gender, race, and other identity markers. She has also led multi-stakeholder funded research projects such as DiversityLeads and has published more than 200 papers. She is also globally recognized for her advocacy work – she co-founded of Lifeline Syria, to advance the private sponsorship of Syrian Refugees in Toronto and established the Ryerson University Lifeline Syria Challenge which mobilized the university community to engage 1000 volunteers and raise $4.7 m to privately sponsor 500 Syrian refugees. She has received many awards for her work, including the Black Business Professional Association’s Harry Jerome Diversity Award, and the Canada-Pakistan Business Council Professional of the Year (female) award as well as two honorary doctorates and the Meritorious Service Cross, one of Canada’s highest civilian honors. She holds an MA in history, an MBA and a PhD in Management Science.
Suzanne Gagnon is Assistant Professor in Organizational Behaviour at the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University. She studies difference, inequality, gender, identity and their effects in organizations, including as these relate to leadership. She has a particular interest in how scholarly diversity research can contribute to organizational change and social innovation. Professor Gagnon has published in leading journals including Organization Studies, Gender, Work and Organization, Journal of Business Ethics, Management Learning, Human Resource Management Journal, and Human Resources Development Review. She holds a PhD in Management from Lancaster University and an MSc in Industrial Relations from Oxford University.
Radia Chraibi holds an MBA from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada and is a community worker for the City of Toronto. A Research Assistant at the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University, her Master’s project on successful Muslim professionals stemmed in part from her own work experiences.
