We'd rather hire Guðmund and Anna than Muhammed and Aisha?

The impact of a Muslim name on resumes

Abstract

Both Icelandic and international studies indicate that particularly high prejudice is observed against people with a Muslim background. As a result, the focus of this article is on prejudice against Muslim immigrants in Iceland. Job description and four curriculum vitae were set up and the general public was asked to evaluate randomly one applicant. Applicants were all the same, but names (Icelandic reference, Muslim reference) and gender (male, female) were different. Results indicate that there are significant prejudices against individuals with Muslim names. Despite the fact that our methodology leadsto underestimation of prejudices, we find significant prejudices against Muslims. For comparison we find that the wage difference caused by a Muslim background are considerably larger than the gender pay gap in Iceland. In line with prior literature, prejudices seem to be larger towards female than to male Muslim job seekers.