A great opinion piece by a professor of political science at the Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego.
It essentially explains one of the primary reasons why boys & girls, from Europe & North America, are so willing to move to Iraq & Syria, to join a group, which will seemingly restrict or even oppose the kind of lifestyle they are used to back in their homes, in Europe & North America: Financial Security.
As this blog from the professor states, that in UK, a Muslim woman is 65% less likely to be employed compared to a Christian woman, & a Muslim man is 76% less likely compared to a Christian man. Of course, the assumption here, is that everyone has the same education & qualifications.
As I have said multiple times previously, & now ardently believe, that ethnic & religious discrimination is so high in Canada that young Muslim men & women are either willing to endure harsh conditions to join such groups or just given up on their dreams of ever achieving the financial & economic security they envisioned while they were going through their schooling.
One of my friends in HR field posted a blog on properly networking, about a month ago. I frankly commented on that blog that what she is telling in her blog is not wrong, but it is not customized for the minorities. All these are good tips, but it doesn't help the young Muslim men & women, who are educated, but are heavily discriminated against in workplaces.
I said that because I see it myself in my South Asian immigrant community in Canada. If this would have been a problem just with me, I would chalk it up to my luck or any number of individual factors. But it's a community-wide problem, and as soon as someone utters the "R" word (racism), the common answer is, "now, you are just being stupid."
Some Muslim women will say that there's no racism since I have a great job & a career. What they don't realize that it all depends on their dress (appearance) & name. If a Muslim girl is named, "Sarah" or "Maria", & if she drinks alcohol, & wear knee-length skirts (w/o leggings) to work, then she will have a much easier time in securing a job & career. Compare her situation against a Muslim girl with a name, like "Ambreen" (typical South Asian female name), wearing a hijab & not socializing with her friends in a dance club or a bar. She obviously going to have a much-harder time in securing a job.
Appearances & names are a huge factor. Many people won't think twice for little things like that can make a huge difference between landing a job & not even securing an interview. A young bearded Muslim man in a professional office setting will have a very hard time securing a job or making a career.
We have numerous examples of Muslim men & women changing their names to be accepted in their professional circle, "Maqsood" becomes "Max", "Mohammad" becomes "Moe", "Salman" becomes "Sal" & "Osman" becomes "Oz". Women don't shy from it, either. Either, they change it to Judeo-Christian name or simply add that name is a nickname. We have numerous examples of celebrities who were born or accepted Islam later on, but they never change their name or appearance, because of one of the main reason being that they know that they won't get new contracts for shows or gigs if they do take that step, & they shy away from discussing that part of their life.
I am more sensitive to this issue of discrimination because I encounter it everyday, in my search of a job. When I see my colleagues from my MBA class, I feel that injustice. I see that they not only have great jobs, but they are actually thriving in their careers (managerial levels), whereas, I see my non-Caucasian classmates at the clerical levels in their workplaces.
So will I myself ever take that drastic step of joining a radical group? Hell no. Will I relocate somewhere, e.g. back to my country of birth (Pakistan), to reinvigorate my career? Yes. Will it create difficulties in my life? Definitely. Was that ever my dream? No. Do I see this pattern of racial bias ever improving? Perhaps one day, but not in the short term (5-15 years).
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Over the past few years, approximately 550 young Muslim women have left Europe to join Islamist groups in Syria & Iraq, often marrying fighters.
Many are well educated, from middle-class families, born & raised in Europe. They do not appear to be deeply alienated from society or women who could be easily radicalized. Why would young women leave London, Glasgow or Vienna to join a group that is considered anti-woman in its policies & behavior? Why would they go to so much trouble to reach places where their freedom of movement & expression will, at best, be severely constrained?
The reasons, according to analysts, are roughly the same reasons as for men. Some are alienated from European society. Others are angry at the inequality they see & experience. Still others are looking for adventure or have a romantic idea of wanting to help the Sunni community in the Middle East.
But something else is likely going on. If women are joining because they are alienated, poor or angry, why aren’t Muslim women of all ages leaving Europe for the Middle East? These feelings must extend throughout the community. But virtually all the women are between ages 15 & 19. Why?
One reason is that late teens & early 20s is the time when many young people begin to plan their future — what jobs to take & who to marry.
And these women have good reason to think they may have difficulties getting what they want. An extensive study of religious discrimination in Britain from 2000-2010, commissioned by the Equality & Human Rights Commission, found that Muslims in Britain “experience discrimination of a greater frequency & seriousness than other religious groups.” By the time they are teens, the study shows, many realize there is little they can do to remove it.
Late teens & early 20s is also the period when women may be naïve & inexperienced enough to believe promises made by recruiters on the Internet. When they are told things are better in Syria & Iraq, many seem to believe it.
Yet the answer may have more to do with the job & marriage markets in Europe. Young Muslim women are traveling to the Middle East to join fundamentalist groups in part because they are somehow convinced that this offers greater financial security. The more anxious women were about their economic future, according to a multiyear survey of Muslim women conducted by Lisa Blaydes & Drew Linzer, the more likely they were to turn to & support religious fundamentalism. The report found that economic insecurity was the best predictor of whether a woman would support fundamentalist beliefs.
In fact, young Muslim women in Europe have every reason to be anxious about their economic future.
One reason is that Muslim women in Britain are up to 65% less likely to be employed than white Christian women. Even if a young woman receives straight A’s from a good school — as was the case with the 3 women who recently left London for Syria — she is still more likely to face unemployment, job discrimination & low pay.
Marriage to a young Muslim man in Europe also does not necessarily offer better economic prospects because job opportunities for young Muslim men are even worse. Muslim men in Britain were up to 76% more likely to be unemployed than white male Christians of the same age & with the same qualifications. Neither a job nor marriage in Europe ensures financial security to young Muslim women living there.
There is, however, an alternative. Young Muslim women might decide that they can instead enter the marriage market in Syria & Iraq. Young European women are told by recruiters that they will have their choice of spouses, that their spouses will be able to support them & that they will be taken care of & treated well. Tweets reputedly posted by women living under Islamic State rule describe how the militant group will supply housing & food, even a monthly stipend.
The value of European women in the Syrian & Iraqi marriage market is also presented as higher than that of local women. Blondes, for example, are in demand. To some young women, it might appear as if they have gone from the bottom of the pecking order to the top.
This does not mean that these young women are making a smart choice. They clearly are not making a fully informed one. Recruiters have incentives to portray life within a fundamentalist group as more secure & honorable than life in Europe, even if it isn’t true. They also have incentives to downplay or ignore the dangers these women are likely to encounter in their new world.
Does this mean that all women joining Islamic State are heavily influenced by financial motives & a desire for a reliable social safety net? No. Some are driven by ideology, anger or a desire for adventure — or any number of motives.
But some are driven by strong economic & social incentives, which partly explain the appeal of becoming a member of a fundamentalist group. Current economic conditions have led some young women in Europe to place their trust in what they believe will be a more secure future elsewhere.
They are wrong, but it helps explain why they are so willing to leave.
It essentially explains one of the primary reasons why boys & girls, from Europe & North America, are so willing to move to Iraq & Syria, to join a group, which will seemingly restrict or even oppose the kind of lifestyle they are used to back in their homes, in Europe & North America: Financial Security.
As this blog from the professor states, that in UK, a Muslim woman is 65% less likely to be employed compared to a Christian woman, & a Muslim man is 76% less likely compared to a Christian man. Of course, the assumption here, is that everyone has the same education & qualifications.
As I have said multiple times previously, & now ardently believe, that ethnic & religious discrimination is so high in Canada that young Muslim men & women are either willing to endure harsh conditions to join such groups or just given up on their dreams of ever achieving the financial & economic security they envisioned while they were going through their schooling.
One of my friends in HR field posted a blog on properly networking, about a month ago. I frankly commented on that blog that what she is telling in her blog is not wrong, but it is not customized for the minorities. All these are good tips, but it doesn't help the young Muslim men & women, who are educated, but are heavily discriminated against in workplaces.
I said that because I see it myself in my South Asian immigrant community in Canada. If this would have been a problem just with me, I would chalk it up to my luck or any number of individual factors. But it's a community-wide problem, and as soon as someone utters the "R" word (racism), the common answer is, "now, you are just being stupid."
Some Muslim women will say that there's no racism since I have a great job & a career. What they don't realize that it all depends on their dress (appearance) & name. If a Muslim girl is named, "Sarah" or "Maria", & if she drinks alcohol, & wear knee-length skirts (w/o leggings) to work, then she will have a much easier time in securing a job & career. Compare her situation against a Muslim girl with a name, like "Ambreen" (typical South Asian female name), wearing a hijab & not socializing with her friends in a dance club or a bar. She obviously going to have a much-harder time in securing a job.
Appearances & names are a huge factor. Many people won't think twice for little things like that can make a huge difference between landing a job & not even securing an interview. A young bearded Muslim man in a professional office setting will have a very hard time securing a job or making a career.
We have numerous examples of Muslim men & women changing their names to be accepted in their professional circle, "Maqsood" becomes "Max", "Mohammad" becomes "Moe", "Salman" becomes "Sal" & "Osman" becomes "Oz". Women don't shy from it, either. Either, they change it to Judeo-Christian name or simply add that name is a nickname. We have numerous examples of celebrities who were born or accepted Islam later on, but they never change their name or appearance, because of one of the main reason being that they know that they won't get new contracts for shows or gigs if they do take that step, & they shy away from discussing that part of their life.
I am more sensitive to this issue of discrimination because I encounter it everyday, in my search of a job. When I see my colleagues from my MBA class, I feel that injustice. I see that they not only have great jobs, but they are actually thriving in their careers (managerial levels), whereas, I see my non-Caucasian classmates at the clerical levels in their workplaces.
So will I myself ever take that drastic step of joining a radical group? Hell no. Will I relocate somewhere, e.g. back to my country of birth (Pakistan), to reinvigorate my career? Yes. Will it create difficulties in my life? Definitely. Was that ever my dream? No. Do I see this pattern of racial bias ever improving? Perhaps one day, but not in the short term (5-15 years).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the past few years, approximately 550 young Muslim women have left Europe to join Islamist groups in Syria & Iraq, often marrying fighters.
Many are well educated, from middle-class families, born & raised in Europe. They do not appear to be deeply alienated from society or women who could be easily radicalized. Why would young women leave London, Glasgow or Vienna to join a group that is considered anti-woman in its policies & behavior? Why would they go to so much trouble to reach places where their freedom of movement & expression will, at best, be severely constrained?
The reasons, according to analysts, are roughly the same reasons as for men. Some are alienated from European society. Others are angry at the inequality they see & experience. Still others are looking for adventure or have a romantic idea of wanting to help the Sunni community in the Middle East.
But something else is likely going on. If women are joining because they are alienated, poor or angry, why aren’t Muslim women of all ages leaving Europe for the Middle East? These feelings must extend throughout the community. But virtually all the women are between ages 15 & 19. Why?
One reason is that late teens & early 20s is the time when many young people begin to plan their future — what jobs to take & who to marry.
And these women have good reason to think they may have difficulties getting what they want. An extensive study of religious discrimination in Britain from 2000-2010, commissioned by the Equality & Human Rights Commission, found that Muslims in Britain “experience discrimination of a greater frequency & seriousness than other religious groups.” By the time they are teens, the study shows, many realize there is little they can do to remove it.
Late teens & early 20s is also the period when women may be naïve & inexperienced enough to believe promises made by recruiters on the Internet. When they are told things are better in Syria & Iraq, many seem to believe it.
Yet the answer may have more to do with the job & marriage markets in Europe. Young Muslim women are traveling to the Middle East to join fundamentalist groups in part because they are somehow convinced that this offers greater financial security. The more anxious women were about their economic future, according to a multiyear survey of Muslim women conducted by Lisa Blaydes & Drew Linzer, the more likely they were to turn to & support religious fundamentalism. The report found that economic insecurity was the best predictor of whether a woman would support fundamentalist beliefs.
In fact, young Muslim women in Europe have every reason to be anxious about their economic future.
One reason is that Muslim women in Britain are up to 65% less likely to be employed than white Christian women. Even if a young woman receives straight A’s from a good school — as was the case with the 3 women who recently left London for Syria — she is still more likely to face unemployment, job discrimination & low pay.
Marriage to a young Muslim man in Europe also does not necessarily offer better economic prospects because job opportunities for young Muslim men are even worse. Muslim men in Britain were up to 76% more likely to be unemployed than white male Christians of the same age & with the same qualifications. Neither a job nor marriage in Europe ensures financial security to young Muslim women living there.
There is, however, an alternative. Young Muslim women might decide that they can instead enter the marriage market in Syria & Iraq. Young European women are told by recruiters that they will have their choice of spouses, that their spouses will be able to support them & that they will be taken care of & treated well. Tweets reputedly posted by women living under Islamic State rule describe how the militant group will supply housing & food, even a monthly stipend.
The value of European women in the Syrian & Iraqi marriage market is also presented as higher than that of local women. Blondes, for example, are in demand. To some young women, it might appear as if they have gone from the bottom of the pecking order to the top.
This does not mean that these young women are making a smart choice. They clearly are not making a fully informed one. Recruiters have incentives to portray life within a fundamentalist group as more secure & honorable than life in Europe, even if it isn’t true. They also have incentives to downplay or ignore the dangers these women are likely to encounter in their new world.
Does this mean that all women joining Islamic State are heavily influenced by financial motives & a desire for a reliable social safety net? No. Some are driven by ideology, anger or a desire for adventure — or any number of motives.
But some are driven by strong economic & social incentives, which partly explain the appeal of becoming a member of a fundamentalist group. Current economic conditions have led some young women in Europe to place their trust in what they believe will be a more secure future elsewhere.
They are wrong, but it helps explain why they are so willing to leave.
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