Muslim employees within ‘white’ organizations: the case of Moroccan workers in the Netherlands

Abstract

The managing of religious diversity is a topic that is of increasing interest as countries and organizations become increasingly multi-cultured and religiously diverse. In this paper, we aim to understand how Muslim employees perform agency and identity work within the context of white, Western organizations. Interviews with highly educated Muslim employees in diverse sectors in the Netherlands were analyzed from the perspective of structuration theory and the concepts of identity regulation and identity work. The study shows how Muslim employees encounter constraints and opportunities within their white organizations and how they perform identity work and agency in relation to their religious practices. We contribute to the HRM and diversity management literature by providing a relational view on religious diversity and bringing in the notion of whiteness in studies on diversity management.