Determinant's of women's employment participation: Muslim / non-Muslim differentials in Australia
Creators: name: Foroutan, Yaghoob
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 2007

description: 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.