Determinant's of women's employment participation: Muslim / non-Muslim differentials in Australia
Date
2007
Authors
Foroutan, Yaghoob
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Abstract
The employment participation of women, as the major issue of this study, is a
phenomenon with a variety of studies that in the social sciences has been described as
'potentially infinite' (Evans 1996: 68). However, the conduct of research in various
contexts is essential in order to reveal the varying aspects of this phenomenon. This
study has given specific attention to the impact of religion, which 'was once at the
forefront of demographic research (McQuillan 2004:25), on women's employment
participation. Religion is generally considered to be connected with traditional views
and values on gender roles in the household. This is particularly the case in the Islamic
context where the level of women's employment participation, as an indicator of gender
outcomes, has often been found to be comparatively low. As the empirical observations
of this study related to the multicultural and multiethnic setting of Australia, the study is
also associated with the factors of migration and ethnicity.
This study has used special tabulations from the full 2001 Population and Housing
Census of Australia dealing with almost 5.4 million women in the main working ages
(that is, 15-54). The study has used logistic regression analysis as a standardisation
process. This has provided the opportunity to examine the relative impact of each
determinant of women's employment participation while simultaneously controlling for
other determinants included in the analysis. In addition, for two major reasons, the
multicultural and multiethnic setting of Australia where this study has been taken place has provided unusual opportunities for this study. In this study, we have been able to
compare employment participation of Muslim and non-Muslim women. Moreover, as
these women came from a wide range of countries throughout the world, we have been
able to examine the employment differentials between these two groups of women
across the regions of origin and to investigate different patterns of employment
participation of Muslim women by birthplace. More importantly, this investigation of
ethnic variations provides empirical evidence for the theoretical debate as to whether
religion per se or other determinants explain the lower level of women's employment
participation in the Islamic settings. This study has been able to separate the effect of
religion from that of region of origin reflecting various socio-cultural backgrounds and
experiences. It is acknowledged, however, that this study has faced limitations related to
the measurement of selectivity due to the migration process, the possibility of
disadvantage through discrimination on the part of employers in the destination country,
and the matter of religiosity.
The results of this study have revealed a substantially heterogeneous composition of
Muslim women across the different regions of origin in terms of characteristics
influencing employment participation. Accordingly, considering Muslim women in
Australia only as a single group without paying attention to their ethnic differences is
insufficient and could be misleading. This pattern also holds for the employment status
of women as the influence of Islamic affiliation varies significantly across the regions of
origin. Significant ethnic variation was found to apply to the effects of most
determinants of the employment status of women, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. The
gap between these two groups of women with regard to the effects of most determinants of employment status and occupational levels varies markedly across the region of
origin. However, once employed, we did not find a significant influence of Islamic
affiliation on women's occupational levels even across the regions of origin. The results
of this study have also indicated that both family formation characteristics and human
capital endowments have greater implications for women's employment status than
religion.
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Thesis (PhD)