Nabil Khattab

Doha Institute for Graduate Studies · Sociology and Anthropology

Economic activity among Muslim women in the UK remains considerably lower and their unemployment rate significantly higher than among the majority group even after controlling for qualifications and other individual characteristics. This study utilises two data sets to explore possible factors underlying these differences, such as overseas qualific...

Most studies on the mobility of highly skilled migrants have been examined with a framework of global talent mobility and under conditions of neoliberal governance and economic globalization. In this study we challenge the notion of the hypermobile knowledge worker. Utilizing mixed methods, we examine the factors that attracted highly skilled migra...

This paper compares the labor market position of women from religious minority backgrounds with that of the majority group of Christian White Canadian women. In particular, it examines the relative disadvantage of Muslim women in relation to labor market participation, unemployment rate and the likelihood of obtaining managerial and professional oc...

Resumen Pese al reciente aumento del nivel de estudios de las mujeres árabes palestinas en Israel, sus tasas de actividad y ocupación siguen siendo inferiores a las de las mujeres judías. En este estudio, basado en datos de la Encuesta de Población Activa y la Encuesta Social de Israel (periodo 1995‐2016), se investiga si este patrón se explica por...

Résumé Bien que les Palestiniennes vivant en Israël aient récemment vu leur niveau d'études progresser, elles restent moins présentes que les femmes juives sur le marché du travail. Les auteurs s'appuient sur des données de l'enquête sur la population active et de l'enquête sociale couvrant la période 1995‐2016 pour examiner les facteurs susceptibl...

Utilising semi-structured interviews, this study aims to explore how second-generation Arab migrants perceive and negotiate their belonging in Qatar. It is argued that second-generation Arab migrants construct their belonging to Qatar beyond the legal definition (Citizen/resident) imposed on them as temporary migrants. However, the same legal defin...

This study investigates the factors driving low labour force participation (LFP) rates among Palestinian‐Arab women in Israel relative to Jewish women, despite the recent increase in educational attainment among this group. We focus on five factors that could explain this pattern: (i) socioeconomic and demographic factors such as age, education, an...

The study aims to examine the formation of and interrelationship between career importance, decisiveness, and aspirations among students. The data used in the study came from the ‘School experience, educational aspirations and scholastic achievement in Qatar’ survey 2018-2020 (SEEASAP). A sample of 841 students aged 12–14 was used for the analysis....

Aspirations and expectations are conceptually and empirically different. Given their differential impact on various educational outcomes, it is expected that they, and consequently their convergence, would be affected by different factors. This study examines the factors leading to high aspirations, high expectations and to their alignment by using...

Here we chart new trends in the globalization of human capital, and the implications of these trends for our current understanding of skilled international labour migration. Existing approaches to skilled migration have developed around the drivers and consequences of global talent mobility to and between traditional destinations in Europe and Nort...

The study draws on the theory of ‘migrant optimism’ and anticipated discrimination to examine whether a gap in educational expectations and achievement exists between immigrant and native students in Qatar and explores whether the impact of educational expectations on educational achievement is contingent upon the migratory status of students (migr...

The main objective of this paper is to examine the role of students’ aspirations and expectations in affecting school achievement among 7th and 8th grade students in Qatar’s schools. The study draws on data collected in Qatari schools from a randomly selected sample of 841 students and their parents. The findings indicate that students’ educational...

This comparative statistical analysis is of tolerance and how it was perceived and experienced by minorities and majorities in the UK and Germany before and after two defining national events that both focused on immigration and national identity. Based on combined sweeps of the European Social Survey (2012–2018), this study applied logistic regres...

This article investigates the relationships between ethnicity, class, and prospects of educational success. For this purpose, we compared the effects of family socio-economic characteristics on children's educational attainment in four ethno-religious groups in Israel (Muslim, Christian, and Druze Palestinians; Jews). Information from the 1995 cens...

Bullying involvement may have an adverse effect on children’s educational outcomes, particularly academic achievement. However, the underlying mechanisms and factors behind this association are not well-understood. Previous meta-analyses have not investigated mediation factors between bullying and academic achievement. This meta-analysis examines t...

This article examines the labour-market performance of Muslim women in Australia. It examines whether Muslim women face a penalty due to their religious background. This study analyses data obtained from the 2011 Australian Census, and found that Muslim women were less likely to participate in the labour market and less likely to obtain managerial...

We analyse a large-scale UK quarterly Labour Force Survey data covering a period of 16 years (2002-2017) to compare labour market outcomes for women of different religious and ethnic denominations. The paper contributes to the existing literature in analysing three labour outcomes: economic activity (participation), unemployment and occupational ch...

Very little is known about the life experiences of highly skilled female migrants and almost nothing about them outside of Western contexts. This paper attempts to address this knowledge gap by examining the experiences of highly skilled migrant women working in the Persian Gulf monarchy of Qatar. Drawing on in-depth interviews with a sample of hig...

This paper explores the situation of new groups of immigrants by focusing on various categories within the heterogeneous group of individuals which comprise the White population. We combine information on country of origin, ethnicity and religion derived from the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) to subdivide the White-British, White-Irish and White-Oth...

Studies on labour-market disadvantages of ethnic and visible minorities in Canada have focused, primarily, on earning differentials leaving other important socioeconomic indicators such as employment and occupational distribution insufficiently examined. These studies have rarely included religion as one of the explanatory variables, despite the pr...

The literature on British Muslim women’s labour market experience suffers from four lacunae: the inadequate analysis of the multi-layered facets of their identities and the disadvantages they face; the narrow range of labour market outcomes studied (primarily labour market participation and unemployment); a lack of recent studies on the integration...

There is growing evidence that shows that social context is becoming less significant in influencing educational achievements and expectations. Additionally, evidence indicates that expectations are high across the board and becoming of declining significance to educational achievement. In light of this, we reexamine and offer an alternative to the...

The papers in this issue examine various aspects of ethnic differences in higher education. The first three papers, all of which focus on Britain, attempt to explain the very high motivation behind enrollment in higher and further education by ethnic minority students. These papers argue that investment in higher education is a defiance strategy th...

Very little is known about the transition to adulthood and particularly the causes of high NEEThood (not in employment, education or training) rates among young Arab men in Israel. This article aims to analyse the main routes of integration into the labour market and postsecondary education among Arab male citizens of Israel. It is argued that give...

This study aims to answer the question of why the labor force participation rate among Arab women in Israel is low in spite of a massive educational expansion since the early 1990s. It draws on theories of intersectionality, human capital and public policy to argue that the labor market participation of Arab women in Israel is not only determined v...

Arab women’s NEET behavior should be understood in the context of the transition of Arab society from a patriarchal to a modern one. The study is based on intensive open interviews with 40 young women aged 18–30 concerning their struggle for self-fulfilment as women in Arab society. The study’s novel aspect is its focus on women’s perspective on th...

This article aims to explain the labour market penalties among Muslim women in Britain. It draws on theories of intersectionality and colour/cultural racism to argue that the labour market experience of British-Muslim women is multiply determined via criteria of ascription such as ethnicity, migration status, race and religion rather than criteria...

This study compares the educational attainment of Muslim and Christian White boys and girls at the following junctions: KS2, KS3, GCSE, getting into universities and achieving a place at a Russell Group university. It utilises the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England LSYPE waves 1-6 with linked data from the National Pupil Database. The an...

Most studies demonstrating the vulnerability of labour migrants following the recession have focused on unemployment. This article examines how the labour market performance of East-European workers in the U.K. has been affected by the recession by focussing on four possible employment outcomes: unemployment, self-employment, over-qualification and...

Immigrants and other disadvantaged minorities are likely to face different forms of penalties in the labor market including a greater risk and longer periods of unemployment, part-time work, temporary and lower paid jobs, and educational-occupational mismatch (hereafter occupational mismatch). This is true for immigrants and native minority groups...

This article uses the case of the probability of being in employment among different ethno-religious groups in Britain over a period of 12 years (2002-2013) to illustrate how different degrees of labor market penalty in the United Kingdom are highly associated with the different processes of racialization they undergo in the United Kingdom. It is a...

Using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), this study examines how different combinations of aspirations, expectations and school achievement can influence students’ future educational behaviour (applying to university at the age of 17–18). The study shows that students with either high aspirations or high expectations have hi...

In this paper, we argue that the power structure that lies within the UK elite universities dictates a division of labour through which the inflows of overseas academics into the UK academic labour markets are skewed towards these elite academic institutions where they are employed primarily in research-only posts. These posts, are less valued and...

This paper analyses the patterns of occupational attainment and earnings among the Jewish community in Britain using UK Labour Force Survey data (2002-2010). The findings suggest that although British-Jews cannot be distinguished from the majority main stream population of British-White in terms of their overall occupational attainment and earnings...

Some social scientists are sceptical of the explanatory power of ethnicity and seek to explain ethnic differences by references to non-ethnic factors such as discrimination. We challenge this scepticism by considering two theoretical objections: there is no such thing as ethnicity and ethnic categories are unable to explain social processes; and by...

The existence of ethnic penalties in the operations of the UK labour market is well established, although many studies have focused upon only unemployment and income as measures of labour-market performance. Few have looked at changes in those penalties over time, especially during a period including a major recent recession, and whether they were...

This study analyses data obtained from the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2002–2013 to examine the ethno-religious differences in the gross hourly pay within the British salariat occupational class. It explores the extent to which these differences are associated with ethnicity, religion or both. The findings suggest that substantial between-group di...

This paper proposes a new typology of educational aspirations, expectations and achievement. This typology is derived from combinations of aspirations, expectations and achievement, creating eight possible combinations of aligned and irregular profiles. To devise this new typology, data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)...

Categorising individuals by their self-assessed ethnicity and their religious affiliation has enhanced our appreciation of the extent of labour market penalties experienced by minority groups in the United Kingdom.•Muslims experience the greatest penalties with regard to avoiding unemployment – especially Muslim women.•These penalties were larger w...

West and East Europeans have been important components of the migration flows into the UK in the last decade, but they remain largely under-studied. This paper utilises 12 quarters of the Labour Force Survey for the years 2002–2013 to examine patterns of over-qualification and their impact on those migrants' earnings. The findings show a clear and...

This article compares the occupational attainment of qualified Palestinians and Jews in Israel using data obtained from the Labor Force Survey for the years 2000–2010. Our findings show that Sephardi Jews are as likely as most Palestinians to be disadvantaged in their chances of obtaining jobs in certain occupational categories. Some qualified Pale...

Most analyses of ethnic penalties in the UK labour market focus on one source of minority-group disadvantage only: colour racism, based on people’s selfidentified ethnicity. Some authors have argued that operating alongside those penalties, and in general exacerbating them, are further disadvantages reflecting cultural racism: in the UK it is argue...

Description: Bringing together important contributions from leading Israeli Jewish and Palestinian scholars, this comprehensive and multi-disciplinary volume addresses the most recent developments and outcomes of the labor market integration of the Palestinian minority inside Israel. The volume covers a wide range of topics (ethnicity, religion, r...

This chapter examines the effect of economic cycles on Palestinians’ employability in the Israeli labor market compared to that of Jews. It uses labor force panel data from 1995 to 2009 to answer the question: Are Palestinian workers in Israel the first to be fired during recessions and the last to be hired during growth periods?

Israel is a deeply divided society comprising different ethnic, national, and religious groups. The socioeconomic status of each of these groups is characterized by both diversity and polarization. At one end, at a low socioeconomic status, lie most of the Palestinians, and at the other end lie the Jews, mainly those with Western background, who en...

Utilizing the Samples of Anonymized Records from the UK 2001 Census, this article presents an analysis of the differential experiences of Muslims in the British labour market as both minority- and majority-group ethnicities in Britain. Using multinomial modelling, this article examines the class distribution (using the NS-SEC scheme) given levels o...

This paper expands the existing literature on ethnicity and economic activity in Britain by studying the impact of religion and class. It argues that while the class location of the different South-Asian groups is important in determining their labour market outcomes, it does not operate independently from ethnicity; rather it is highly influenced...

There is a wide range of work on aspects of ethnicity in the UK, but in a number of cases little is done to integrate those separate studies. Variation in educational and labour market experience across ethnic groups is one such area and another is residential segregation; the degree to which members of various groups live apart from each other. Bu...

It has been suggested that ‘ethnic penalties’ exist in British labour markets, whereby members of ethnic minority groups fail to get into occupations commensurate with their qualifications. Often these analyses of occupational attainment by education treat minority groups as homogeneous, not recognising that in several there is substantial heteroge...

Studies of ethnic residential segregation and its impacts on labour market performance have reported both negative and positive outcomes for different groups in different geographies. We revisit the issue with a particular focus on the Bangladeshi minority in England and Wales using both quantitative and qualitative data to explore the impact of li...

This article seeks to contribute to a newly growing literature on religious differences in education and the labour market, and seeks to answer two main questions: To what extent does education have similar impacts on occupational attainment across ethnic and faith groups? To what extent are these ethnic differences due to religious affiliation and...

Durkheim and subsequent commentators have argued for the`benign' influence of work and employment in modern life. Contemporary patterns of work and employment are thought to be fragmented and precarious and thus alienating and demoralizing — and this runs largely, but not wholly, counter to Durkheim's prognosis. If employment may be integrative or...

Previous studies have revealed mixed results regarding the influence of the local labour market on ethnic differences in unemployment. Using data from the 1995 Israeli census, this study aimed to examine the relative influence of individual and spatial factors in determining the risk of employment among men aged 20-64 in Israel. Five ethnic groups...

This paper focuses on the role of ethnicity and class in generating earnings inequality in Israel. Unlike previous studies on inequality of opportunities in Israel, in this paper I compare the earnings of five ethnic groups: European Jews (Ashkenazi), Asian-African Jews (Sephardi), Muslim Palestinians, Christian Palestinians and Druze Palestinians....

This study examines the effects of some aspects of the school normative, academic and institutional context together with individual and interpersonal factors, on educational expectations among Palestinian students in Israel. The data consist of a sub-sample of 1601 students in 40 high schools. Hierarchical linear modelling technique (Multilevel an...

An empirical study of the aspirations of Israeli Arab high school students shows that in comparison with the low educational and occupational attainments of their predecessors, Israeli Arab high school students hold unrealistic, highly optimistic views regarding their future educational and occupational destinations, irrespective of their social or...

Using data from a large national representative survey of Palestinian high school students in Israel, this study examines the effect of the local labour market and the internal ethnic/religious segregation between Muslims, Christians and Druze, on students' occupational expectations. The data, which were collected in spring 1997, consisted of two t...

Previous literature predicts disadvantaged groups to develop low aspirations and expectations, and has often explained high aspirations of these groups in terms of irrationality and fantasy. In this paper the educational aspirations of Palestinian students in Israel are examined using data from a representative sample of high school students. The r...

One of the worrying questions in studying students' aspirations is why some minorities, despite social disadvantages, tend to develop high educational aspirations, whilst others who share the same social reality develop low aspirations. Using data from representative samples of the ninth and eleventh grades in forty-two Palestinian high schools in...

The enclave model and the cultural model have often been used by sociologists to explain the patterns of participation of minority women in western labour markets. While the cultural models explain, in general, the mechanisms that restrict women's employment, the enclave models, by contrast, explain the mechanisms that facilitate women's labour mar...

This study aimed to assess the direct influence of the project in such areas as values, life goals stereotypes and general attitudes. The assumption was that brining students together to work and address neutral issues, through an intensive and ongoing process over a week, may promote the development of friendships and recognition of the other from...

During the intifada-the revolt of Palestinians against the Israeli occupation, led mainly by young people-the social order and power bases in Arab schools in East Jerusalem were transformed by two macrolevel social changes: the devaluation of the teachers' status and the enhancement of the youths' normative standing. These macrolevel changes were a...