Samir Sweida-Metwally, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate
New York University Abu Dhabi

Research Areas: labor markets; job quality; workplace accommodation & disclosure; Muslim penalty; Islamophobia.

Samir Sweida-Metwally is a Postdoctoral Associate at New York University Abu Dhabi. He holds a PhD in Advanced Quantitative Methods from the University of Bristol (funded by the UK Economic Social and Research Council), an MSc in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford (funded by the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies), an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and a BSc (Hons) in Economics from Brunel University. He is trilingual in English, Arabic and French.

As a quantitative social scientist, Sweida-Metwally focuses his research on labor markets and workplace dynamics. His work specifically centers on measuring job quality, investigating ethno-religious disparities therein, and exploring barriers to employment access. Sweida-Metwally also studies employer attitudes towards religious accommodation. Additionally, his research addresses workplace bullying, emphasizing how demographic factors influence its disclosure and impact on employees. As an interdisciplinary scholar with a background in political theory, Sweida-Metwally's research is also of a theoretical nature, developing ideas around the conceptualization of Islamophobia. His research has appeared in Ethnic and Racial Studies, and has been ranked in the top 2% of all research outputs scored by Altmetrics. Sweida-Metwally has been interviewed on TV about his research, which has also garnered significant attention from national and international media outlets, including The Guardian in the UK and The National in the UAE. 

Sweida-Metwally combines his mainstream education with training in the traditional Islamic sciences. He completed a Diploma in Islamic Studies (in English) and is currently studying towards a Diploma in Classical Arabic Language & Literature as part of his Shahādah ‘Ālimiyyah (Licence in Islamic Scholarship). 

Prior to joining academia, Sweida-Metwally worked in the private sector in the UK and the UAE. Combined, he has over 14 years of strategic advisory and research experience. This includes offering C-Suite strategic guidance to Dubai-headquartered multinational corporations. Sweida-Metwally continues to operate in this field as a consultant, advising multinational companies on their Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) programs, as well as addressing issues related to Islamophobia in the workplace.