Ethno-religious categories and measuring occupational

Ron Johnston, University of Bristol
Ibrahim Sirkeci, European Business School London
Nabil Khattab, University of Bristol
Tariq Modood, University of Bristol

Abstract

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 heterogeneity on other criteria, such as religion, which may also influence occupational attainment. We argue that there are significant variations among these ethno-religious minorities regarding their labour-market performance, which is measured using a continuous scale of skill-level distancesöa measure of returns to education.