Browsing by Author "Daniels, Denise"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    A Nationally Representative Survey of Faith and Work: Demographic Subgroup Differences around Calling and Conflict
    (MDPI, 2020) Ecklund, Elaine Howard; Daniels, Denise; Bolger, Daniel; Johnson, Laura
    Research has increasingly highlighted the importance of business leaders allowing people to bring their whole selves to work. And religion is an important part of the whole self for many. However, we lack the large-scale national data needed to explore how Americans see the connections between religion and work. Here, from “Faith at Work: An Empirical Study”—a novel, nationally representative dataset—we explore the extent to which working Americans (N = 8767) see their work as a spiritual calling and/or experience work conflict because of their religious faith. We find that one fifth of workers identify their work as a spiritual calling. Our findings also suggest that experiences of religious conflict and discrimination are shaped not only by religious beliefs, but also social location. The initial results highlight future avenues for research and demonstrate the potential of the “Faith at Work” data to shed further light on how religion enters the workplace.
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    From Secular to Sacred: Bringing Work to Church
    (MDPI, 2020) Ecklund, Elaine Howard; Daniels, Denise; Schneider, Rachel C.
    Work and faith are significant life commitments for many people. Understanding how people integrate these facets of life is important for scholars, faith leaders, and religious communities. We use data from Faith at Work: An Empirical Study, which includes a U.S. general population survey (n = 13,270) and in-depth interviews. Drawing data from a Christian sub-sample we ask: How do Christians draw on their faith community in relation to work? For those in different social locations, in what ways does talk about work come up in churches? Finally, what work-related challenges do Christians experience, and how do Christians want their churches and pastors to address them? We find that many Christians see faith as a resource for enhancing their work lives but do not often encounter discussion of work at church or talk with pastors about work, though Black congregants are nearly twice as likely as whites to hear their pastors discuss work. Further, specific groups of Christians want their pastors and churches to do more to support them in their work and/or to help them navigate faith in the workplace. They also want churches to better accommodate the needs of working people at church, so they can more fully participate.
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    How Religious Discrimination is Perceived in the Workplace: Expanding the View
    (Sage, 2022) Schneider, Rachel C.; Carroll Coleman, Deidra; Howard Ecklund, Elaine; Daniels, Denise
    Although religious discrimination in U.S. workplaces appears to be rising, little is known about how different groups of employees perceive discrimination. Here, the authors draw on 194 in-depth interviews with Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and nonreligious employees to examine perceptions of religious discrimination in the workplace. The authors identify several common modes of perceived discrimination, including verbal microaggressions and stereotyping, social exclusion and othering, and around religious holidays and symbols. The authors also find that Christians tend to link perceived discrimination to personal piety or taking a moral stand in the workplace, while Muslims, Jews, and nonreligious people tend to link discrimination to group-based stereotypes and describe a sense of being seen as religiously foreign or other. This study reveals the value of studying groups alongside one another for the fullest picture of workplace religious discrimination and points the way toward further sociological research of how both majority and minority groups perceive discrimination.
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    “Take It to the Lord”: Religion and Responses to Racial Discrimination in the Workplace
    (Sage, 2024) Schneider, Rachel C.; Mabute-Louie, Bianca; Howard Ecklund, Elaine; Daniels, Denise
    Drawing on in-depth interview data from the nationally representative Faith at Work: An Empirical Study, this article contributes to understanding the role of religion in shaping interpretations of and responses to racial discrimination in the workplace. Specifically, it shows how Christians of different racial groups understand the relevance of their faith in coping with perceived racial discrimination in the workplace, and it illuminates the religious frames that respondents employ to “make sense” of perceived racial discrimination at work. We find that Christians of color and White Christians primarily draw on religious frames such as forgiveness and divine sovereignty in response to perceived discrimination but that these frames serve different functions. Some Christians of color also link their faith to a moral conviction to stand up for themselves and others in the workplace. While most studies on the connection between religion and racial discrimination focus on faith as an individual-level coping mechanism and buffering effect, this article also analyzes the implications of religion on racial hierarchies and racial equity efforts in the workplace—including a focus on how religion serves to produce epistemologies of ignorance and support feelings of White victimhood. Our study contributes to the scholarship on racial discrimination and religion by offering new insights into how Christians of different racial groups use faith to cope with perceived racial discrimination at work.
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    The Role of Region and Religious Tradition in Predicting Individuals’ Expressions of Faith in the Workplace
    (MDPI, 2023) Frost, Jacqui; Scheitle, Christopher P.; Ecklund, Elaine Howard; Daniels, Denise
    While many variables might influence an individual’s willingness to express their faith in the workplace, the role of regional context has not been fully considered. The different geographical regions in the U.S. consist of unique demographics and cultures that could shape an individual’s expression of faith at work. Moreover, these regional effects might be moderated by an individual’s specific religious tradition. Using data from a survey of U.S. adults featuring oversamples of Jewish and Muslim individuals, we utilize two unique measures of religious expression—displaying/wearing religious items at work and talking about religion at work—to assess the roles of region and religious tradition in expression of faith at work. We find that regional cultures can sometimes override religious subcultures to determine if and how people express their religion in the workplace. We find that evangelical-conservative Christians are more likely than those following most other religious traditions to say that they talk about their faith at work, regardless of the region in which they reside. However, we also find that individuals in the South tend to be more likely to express their faith in the workplace independent of their religious tradition while evangelicals in the Northwest are less so. The findings have broader implications for subcultures related to religious pluralism in an increasingly diverse U.S. society.