How Muslim women in India face discrimination during hiring process?

A new report from the Led By Foundation raises concern that Muslim women are found to be discriminated against in the Indian Job market. The study conducted by LedBy foundation, titled Hiring Bias: Employment for Muslim women at entry-level roles over a 10-month period found that for every two work calls a Hindu woman receives, a Muslim woman only receives one.

The report noted that while Habiba received just 103 hits, Priyanka got 203, nearly double what the Muslim woman's profile got. The net rate of discrimination was 47.1%, which was evident across all industries, based on responses received.

“The net discrimination rate for Indian Muslim women relative to Hindu women becomes 47.1%, which represents a massive discrepancy between callbacks for Muslim and Hindu women and proves that there is a recruitment bias significantly favouring Hindu women in all industries,” the study observed.

Habiba received only one rare follow-up call, while a large proportion of Priyanka's responses were callbacks, according to the study. Regarding the callbacks that each of them received, “41.3% of the recruiters connected with Priyanka through phone calls, while only 12.6% spoke with Habiba through a call”.

Geographically, North India had a lower rate of discrimination (40%) compared to jobs in South (60%) and West India (59%).

“The research demonstrates that one factor contributing to such a stark disparity in Job market participation is discrimination within the hiring process. Equal access to opportunities for Muslim women is vital to their social and financial equality in society, and addressing bias in the hiring process is one of the most important mechanisms by which the playing field can be levelled,” the report stated.

Of the 1,000 jobs applied for, Sharma received 208 positive responses, while Ali received around half (103). Therefore, despite having similar abilities, Ali's profile was much less preferred compared to Sharma's.

Additionally, both Ali and Sharma received 88 positive responses from the same organizations. However, Sharma received 120 responses from unique organizations, while Ali received only 15.

A net discrimination rate of 47.1 per cent was observed, highlighting a massive bias between callbacks for the two women belonging to different religious groups.

The study also highlighted the bias against hiring Muslim women across all industries and geographic regions in India. In the computer software industry, for example, Sharma received a 23 per cent response rate from recruiters, while Ali received only a 4 per cent response rate. In Information Technology and Services, 21 per cent of recruiters responded to Sharma's request, while only 9 per cent responded to Ali's.

In terms of geographic regions, the net discrimination rate was higher for companies located in South and West India, compared to North India. In the south, for example, Sharma's response rate was 16 per cent, while Ali's was 6 per cent. The same figures for North India were 23 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.

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