Higher Educational Attainment and Lower Labor Participation among Bangladeshi Migrant Muslim Women in Australia: Disparity and Internal Barriers

The 2021 census data in Australia show that a higher proportion of Bangladeshi Muslim women in Australia have postgraduate degrees compared to the broader female population. They are also more likely to have a bachelor’s degree when compared to their counterparts in the wider female cohort. However, the unemployment rate for Bangladeshi Muslim women is more than twice as high as that of the general female population. While a comparison between higher educational attainment and lower labour participation raises the question of whether the goal of higher education is indeed labour participation and the dilemma of valuing education solely based on its economic returns, nonetheless, the disparity alarms curiosity to investigate the reasons. The existing research on Muslim women in Australia reveal a complex web of external and internal multilayered intersecting factors that influence migrant women’s labour participation and makes them more susceptible to financial vulnerabilities. Utilizing qualitative methods in analysing fieldwork data from ongoing PhD research, this paper underscores the critical need for a nuanced understanding of internal cultural, domestic, and religious factors to address the unique challenges faced by this demographic in their labour market participation in Australia.