The government should address the under-representation of British Muslims in top professions by passing legislation to make job applications anonymous, a thinktank has said.
Only 16% of British Muslims are in senior roles, fewer people than any other religious group, and compared with a UK average of 30% of people in such roles, according to the Rising to the Top report published by Demos on Friday.
Overall, Muslims are also disproportionately more likely to be unemployed and economically inactive, and have the lowest female participation rate of all religious groups.
The report, which was based on speaking to students and professionals, as well as analysing academic literature, higher education surveys, and national figures such as the Labour Force Survey, calls for a boost in professional network organisations to tackle the under-representation.
The report said the Russell Group, the elite set of UK universities, should fund programmes to boost representation from disadvantaged communities.
Louis Reynolds, the author of the report, said the findings showed that a few achievable changes in education, local authority support, and renewed commitments from Muslim communities and employers could go far in correcting the imbalance.
The report refers to top professions of the labour market, but includes both higher and lower managerial, administrative and professional occupations, such as chief executives, doctors, barristers and architects.
“Improvement in this area will be an important and necessary step forward for Britain, as our society will become stronger and more cohesive as we begin to tap into the economic potential of many more of our talented young people,” Reynolds said.
The findings of the report come after David Cameron raised the issue of social mobility and opportunity at his speech at the Tory party conference on Wednesday.
As well as calling for legislation to make anonymisation of CVs compulsory, the report recommended the government should do more to increase awareness of their alternative Sharia-compliant student loan product among Muslim communities, who for religious reasons are forbidden to take a loan with interest.
The report also encourages large organisations to use “contextual recruitment” methods during the hiring process for a better understanding of a candidate’s life experience and background.
It called for the younger generation within the Muslim community to lead the way in shifting of attitudes and be backed with the support of key institutions such as mosques and the Muslim Council of Britain.
Another issue the report highlighted is that some focus group members saw alcohol as playing an important role in the workplace, and that not drinking was seen as a potential barrier. One chartered accountant Demos spoke to said: “I think as I progressed through the firm it became more apparent that serious decisions were often influenced by networks, and unfortunately in most cases the only opportunity to network would be at these drinks.”
Maria Sobolewska, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Manchester, said: “Some recent research also showed that people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities – including Muslims – are not able to benefit fully from such opportunities as degrees from Britain’s top universities.
“BME graduates of Russell Group universities are less likely to have a job within six months of finishing their degree than white graduates.”
The findings of the report said “cultural attitude” was another thing holding British Muslims back in the workplace, highlighting issues such as Muslim communities limiting the role of women in the labour market, and parents’ aversion to younger people moving away from the local community.
Sobolewska said although findings show lower professional attainment of Muslim women in the community, “these are weaker among younger generations of Muslims”.
“Not only are British Muslim women now going to university in higher numbers than previously, the numbers of Muslim female politicians on local and national levels are also going up.
“Although it is still very much a story of an ongoing struggle, it is also a story of progress and huge generational changes.”
Focus groups for the report were from the East London boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets, which have a high British Bangladeshi population, while figures for educational attainment were taken from the British Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities – which does not factor in half of British Muslims who are from different ethnic backgrounds.
Dr Sundas Ali, a lecturer in politics and sociology at Oxford University, said: “While this report adds value, it may also be interpreted as Muslims demanding or being allocated extra resources and this may have a negative reaction in some communities in the UK.”
She added a more effective solution would be “to invest more resources in the country’s most deprived areas, with almost half of the Muslim population living in the 10% most deprived local authority districts”.
In a statement the Muslim Council of Britain said: “The Muslim Council of Britain welcomes this report and its attempt at facilitating British Muslims to have an equal chance to rise to the highest social and economic positions in the UK.”