Dr. Samir Sweida-Metwally

| ON THE JOB MARKET 2026-2027

Samir

Sweida-Metwally

Postdoctoral Researcher at New York University Abu Dhabi

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➕ Organizational Inequality ➕ Labor Markets and Employment ➕ Job Quality and Worker Experience

➕ Experimental and Quantitative Methods ➕ Religious Discrimination and Islamophobia ➕ Causal Inference

Research

I study how organizational processes shape labor market access, workplace inequality, and employee experiences.

Specifically, I examine religious labor market inequality as a lens for understanding broader organizational dynamics, including how accommodation requests, managerial decision-making, workplace voice, and disclosure behavior shape workers’ experiences within organizations.

Using advanced quantitative and experimental methods, I develop meso-level theories of religious organizational inequality and identify the causal mechanisms through which these inequalities are (re)produced. I also construct measures of job quality to examine differences in workplace conditions and employee experiences.

Complementing this work, I study macro-level forms of religious hostility, advancing a novel conceptualization of Islamophobia and examining its broader societal implications.

My research has contributed to policy discussions, including briefings for Australia’s first Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia and his team, and has received international media attention.

Publications

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🎓 JOB MARKET PAPER

"Religion at Work: A Theory of Organizational Inequality" [First Author, with Makovi K., and Frimpong, J.A. - SECOND ROUND OF DATA COLLECTION]

*Draft available upon request*

2025

"Beyond Racism: Re-centering Religious Hostility in the Conceptualization of Islamophobia", Ethnicities

Policy 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

Press coverage: 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.

Works in Progress

"Workplace Voice and Bullying Disclosure: Race and Gender Differences in Disclosure Behavior" [First Author, with Makovi K., Shepherd H., and Frimpong, J.A. - UNDER REVIEW]
"Job Autonomy Disparities Among Muslim Women in the British Labour Market" [First Author, with Cheung, SY. - PREPARING FOR SUBMISSION]
"Manager Responses to Workplace Accommodation Requests: Experimental Evidence on Political Ideology in the United States" [First Author, with Makovi K., and Frimpong, J.A. - DATA ANALYSIS]
"Persistent Disadvantage? Muslim Unemployment and Earnings Gaps in Britain Across Crises, 2009–2024." [Single Author - DATA ANALYSIS]
"Who Enforces Transparency at Work? Status, Disclosure, and Unequal Production of Workplace Transparency" [Second Author, with Kawashima, T., Makovi K., and Frimpong, J.A. - DATA ANALYSIS]

Teaching

New York University Abu Dhabi

AY 2024/25 Islam and Society

Guest Lecturer • Fall Semester

Capstone

Feedback Panelist • Fall Semester

AY 2023/24 Racisms and Race

Guest Lecturer • Fall Semester

Islam and Society

Guest Lecturer • Fall Semester

Capstone

Feedback Panelist • Fall Semester

University of Bristol

AY 2020/21 Foundation in Arts and Social Sciences

Supervisor • Spring Semester

Convincing Stories? Numbers as Evidence in Social Science

Graduate Teacher (level 2) • Fall Semester

AY 2019/20 Social Identities & Divisions

Graduate Teacher (level 1) • Fall Semester

Convincing Stories? Numbers as Evidence in Social Science

Graduate Teacher (level 2) • Fall Semester

Professional Experience

Prior to academia, I worked at J.P. Morgan in London and later in strategic advisory roles in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, advising C-suite leaders across multinational corporations as well as government and semi-government organizations. My broader experience includes policy and applied research with the UK Department for Work and Pensions and UNHCR, as well as consultancy work for Microsoft and Qatar Foundation.