Due to the growing Muslim population in the U.S., employment discrimination for this subset of people is becoming a more prominent issue than ever seen before in the nation. Current political tensions are only adding to the issue, making Muslims even more likely to experience discrimination while at work.
A recent survey performed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that people who identified themselves as Christian on social media received call backs from prospective employers at a higher rate than those who identified as Muslim, despite having identical names and employment experience. In some states, the disparity is as much as 15 percent. Another part of the study also showed increased discrimination for Muslims. Researchers created four fake social media accounts, all of which had identical pictures, information and resumes, and asked over 4,000 U.S. employers to rate the candidates. The only differences in the accounts were regarding sexual orientation and whether or not the individual identified as Christian or Muslim. Despite this, researchers again found extensive bias against the Muslim candidates.
In the first few months following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that Muslim and Arab employees or potential employees reported 250 percent more discrimination incidences than seen before the attacks. While that number has not remained steady, in fiscal year 2012 alone, 20 percent of all religion-based charges filed by the EEOC were on behalf of employees who had been the victim of discrimination for their Muslim beliefs. Since political tensions regarding Muslims has increased in the past year alone, this number is likely to significantly increase again in coming months.