I once worked at a company whose culture forbade Muslim women from wearing the hijab—a headscarf clothing that Muslim women wear covering their heads and shoulders as an expression of their faith—at work. Besides, the Muslim women were denied jobs with the highest status and qualification unless they agreed only to wear hijab outside the company’s premises. The ones who insisted on wearing hijabs at work were assigned to low-status jobs, such as dishwashing and general cleaning.
I chose this issue since religion is a controversial topic in the workplace that needs to be addressed. Besides, companies tend to address issues such as gender and age discrimination but never examine religion matters (Carmichael, 2017). As a result, Muslim women are left with no one to defend them in an organization. Some of them are denied the jobs that they are qualified for and are forced to work in low-status jobs, hence the discrimination. Although Muslim women have testimonies that reveal the discriminatory practices in specific organizations, their voices are unheard due to their small population in the job market (Carmichael, 2017). Therefore, this issue is vital since it reflects the Islamophobia in companies. Muslim women are also being denied the right to equal and fair treatment in employment settings. Most of the time, the other employees assume superiority over Muslim women since they automatically qualify for jobs meant for them. This issue can demoralize the Muslim women and affect their mental health.
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Besides, different stakeholders are involved in this ethical issue. One of them includes the employees who may reject the idea of wearing hijab at the workplace since they believe it reduces employee safety and prevents them from exercising their rights (Thompson, n.d.). For instance, when working in a job that comprises moving parts, the hijab can endanger the life of a Muslim woman and their counterparts. The surrounding community is another stakeholder. American people are concerned that women wearing hijab may be the target of anti-Muslim hate crimes (Carmichael, 2017). The recent incidences of terrorist attacks have resulted in rising Islamophobia and generalization of Muslims as enemies of the American people. Besides, the company directors may cite concerns such as safety of Muslim women at work, especially discrimination during job applications.
I believe that an organizational policy is the best approach to resolve this issue. Currently, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibits any form of religious discrimination at the workplace, including the adherent to wearing hijab (Thompson, n.d.). However, companies continue to discriminate against Muslim women during job applications. The employers are responsible for creating this policy, and thus, they can resolve this issue within an organization by consulting with Muslim women employees. An organizational policy that accommodates Muslim women at work can be developed through a dialogue between an employer and Muslim women (Thompson, n.d.). Here, they can identify the religious requirement and find ways to incorporate them into the organizational culture.
This issue is currently evident in most western countries. In the past few years, there has been a rise of anti-Muslim hate crimes in countries such as the US, Germany, and France (Carmichael, 2017). People in these countries associate Islamic religion with “backward beliefs” including patriarchy and religious extremism. Some people believe that wearing hijab asserts the notion that women are inferior to men in Muslim culture. Others believe that the hijab is an “overexpression” of one’s religion, meaning Muslim women are unwilling to accommodate other people’s opinion on religion. This issue is well-presented in the US media outlets which are obsessed with associating the hijab to oppression against Muslim women (Terman, 2017). Thus, the media houses compare the Muslim women to the women in the western countries whom they perceive as free and liberated. The events after 9/11 attack, such as the war on terrorism and immigration and deportation, raised the public attention on the growing discrimination against Muslim women and Islamic religion (Terman, 2017). Scholars noticed that the media represented Muslim women as oppressed, living in impoverished conditions, and religious extremists.
References
Carmichael, S.G. (2017 May 26). Study: Employers are less likely to hire a woman who wears a headscarf. Harvard Business Review . Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/05/study-employers-are-less-likely-to-hire-a-woman-who-wears-a-headscarf
Terman, R. (2017). Islamophobia and media portrayals of Muslim women: A computational text analysis of US news coverage. International Studies Quarterly , 61 (3), 489-502.doi:10.1093/isq/sqx051
Thompson, S. (n.d.). Can forbidding an employee from wearing a hijab be discrimination? Chron. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/can-forbidding-employee-wearing-hijab-discrimination-63256.html
