| ON THE JOB MARKET 2027-2028
| ON THE JOB MARKET 2027-2028
Dr. Samir
Dr. Samir
Sweida-Metwally
Sweida-Metwally
Postdoctoral Associate at New York University Abu Dhabi
Postdoctoral Associate at New York University Abu Dhabi
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My research develops a macro–meso–micro account of religion-based stratification centered on Islamophobia. I analyze how institutionalized hostility is translated through organizational practices into labor market outcomes using advanced quantitative and experimental methods
My research develops a macro–meso–micro account of religion-based stratification centered on Islamophobia. I analyze how institutionalized hostility is translated through organizational practices into labor market outcomes using advanced quantitative and experimental methods
RESEARCH SPECIALIZATIONS
Research Agenda
Research Agenda
Developing a macro–meso–micro account of religion-based stratification.
—— M A C R O L E V E L
Conceptualizing Islamophobia
Conceptualizing Islamophobia
Theorizing Islamophobia as hostility toward Islam qua Islam and demonstrating how it is institutionalized through macro-level discourse and policy.
—— M E S O & M I C R O L E V E L S
Organizations & Labor Market Stratification
Organizations & Labor Market Stratification
Analyzing how institutional logics are translated through organizational practices into labor market outcomes, producing religious organizational inequality and variation in job quality.
Publications & Working Papers
Publications & Working Papers
🎓 JOB MARKET PAPER
"Religion at Work: A Theory of Organizational Inequality" [First Author, with Makovi K., Shepherd H., and Frimpong, J.A.]
*Draft available upon request*
Abstract
Abstract
Drawing on Status Characteristics Theory, we theorize that secularism operates as an organizational logic that stratifies workers by shaping ideal worker expectations. When religious practice becomes salient at work, religion functions as a diffuse status characteristic that activates cultural beliefs that devalue religious employees as ideal workers, producing structural workplace disadvantage. We test our theory using a pre-registered survey experiment of 2,528 U.S. managers. Respondents evaluated religious and nonreligious accommodation requests for identical organizational resources. Religious requests were consistently less likely to be approved than comparable nonreligious requests, and employees making religious requests were systematically evaluated less favorably as ideal workers compared to those making nonreligious requests. Experimental manipulations isolate religion as the causal mechanism and show that mentioning relevant anti-discrimination law does not eliminate the penalty. Causal mediation analyses exclude prejudice-based explanations and show that approximately one-third of the relationship between request type and approval operates through the devaluation of religious workers. Qualitative analyses further show that denials are primarily justified by appeals to the secular nature of the workplace. Overall, the evidence lends support to our theory and establishes religion, long marginalized in workplace inequality research, as an important axis of organizational inequality alongside race and gender.
2025
"Beyond Racism: Re-centering Religious Hostility in the Conceptualization of Islamophobia", Ethnicities
Impact: Research prompted outreach from Australia’s first Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia (appointed by the Australian Prime Minister), leading to ongoing discussions on research-policy collaboration. He also designated the article as required reading for his team.
"French Islamophobia: How Orthopraxy Is Conceptualized as a Public Peril", Religions [Equal contribution with Lienen, C.]
"Islamophobia: The Discursive Apparatus of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza, Palestine", Critical Sociology
2022
"Does the Muslim penalty in the British labour market dissipate after accounting for so-called ‘sociocultural attitudes’?", Ethnic and Racial Studies
Impact: The Guardian, The National, Arab News, Morocco World News, Daily Sabah, Islam Channel, The Mirage, University of Bristol press release, ‘Read of the Day’ in The Bridge Initiative newsletter(Georgetown University), Muslim Women Network, and an in-depth television interview on Islam Channel.
Under Review
"A Job, But Not Necessarily a Good One: Control at Work and the Muslim Penalty Among Women in Britain" [First Author, with Cheung, SY.]
"Who Speaks Up? Race-Gender Inequalities in the Disclosure of Workplace Bullying" [First Author, with with Makovi K., Shepherd H., and Frimpong, J.A.]
Teaching
Teaching
Courses at The Africa Institute
Courses at The Africa Institute
AY 2025/26
AY 2025/26
- Guest Lecturer, Comparative Apartheid/Settler Colonialism: The Case of Palestine and South Africa (Fall)
Courses at New York University Abu Dhabi
Courses at New York University Abu Dhabi
AY 2023/24 & 2024/25
AY 2023/24 & 2024/25
- Guest Lecturer, Islam and Society (Fall)
- Feedback Panelist, Capstone (Fall)
AY 2023/24
AY 2023/24
- Guest Lecturer, Racisms and Race (Fall)
Courses at University of Bristol
Courses at University of Bristol
AY 2020/21
AY 2020/21
- Supervisor, Foundation in Arts and Social Sciences (Spring)
AY 2019/20 & 2020/21
AY 2019/20 & 2020/21
- Graduate Teacher (level 2), Convincing Stories? Numbers as Evidence in Social Science (Fall)
AY 2019/20
AY 2019/20
- Graduate Teacher (level 1), Social Identities & Divisions (Fall)
Media
Media
Translating research for public discourse.
➕ THE GUARDIAN
"Muslims’ high unemployment rate ‘not due to cultural and religious practices’"
Feature • Jul 2022
➕ UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Press Release • Jul 2022
➕ THE CONVERSATION
Blog • Aug 2022
➕ ISLAM CHANNEL
"Study claims Muslims have a "significantly greater probability of unemployment""
Feature • Jul 2022
➕ MOROCCO WORLD NEWS
"British Muslims’ High Unemployment Rate Is Not Only Due to ‘Muslim Penalty’"
Feature • Jul 2022
➕ ARAB NEWS
"High unemployment rate among British Muslims not due to cultural, religious practices: Study"
Feature • Jul 2022
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