This study by the French-American Foundation (New York) and France’s “Sciences-Po” (Institut d’études politiques de Paris) offers conclusive evidence that there is religious discrimination in the French labor market. Researchers led by David Laitin (Stanford University) concluded that the study is “unambiguous in finding significant religious discrimination against Muslims in at least one job sector in France.” The research was conducted by Stanford Professor, David D. Laitin, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with French research firm, ISM-CORUM.
The study surveyed more than 500 second-generation Senegalese Muslims and Christians. The survey showed that the Muslims suffer a significant economic disadvantage. After controlling for other factors, such as education, the researchers concluded that the disadvantage could not be explained by any factor other than religious heritage.
The researchers next conducted a “correspondence test,” creating employment CVs for three fictional job-seekers with differing religious and national signals, one an apparently French-indigenous individual, one a French-Senegalese with a Christian given name and one a French-Senegalese with a Muslim given name. The CVs were then sent in pairs, one from the “French” applicant and the other from either the “Christian” or “Muslim” applicant, in response to advertised positions at 300 French companies. The results showed clearly that the “Christian” job applicant was more than twice as likely to receive a call back as the “Muslim” applicant.
David D. Laitin, Invited Professor in 2009-2010 | French American Foundation
