Study finds Turkish and Arabic names face highest discrimination in Germany’s job market

ISTANBUL, Türkiye (MNTV) — A new study by Siegen University has revealed entrenched name-based discrimination in Germany’s labor market, showing that applicants with Turkish or Arabic names face significantly fewer responses from employers than those with German-sounding names, despite having identical qualifications.

The research, titled “Educational Places: Origin More Important Than Performance,” analyzed more than 50,000 job applications submitted under different names.

Results showed stark disparities based solely on perceived ethnicity or religion, highlighting systemic bias that has persisted for decades.

When 100 applications were submitted under the German-sounding name “Lukas Becker,” 67 received replies.

By contrast, “Habiba Mahmoud,” an Arabic name, received only 36 responses, the lowest rate.

The second-lowest outcome was recorded for the Turkish name “Yusuf Kaya,” with 52 replies.

Researchers emphasized that recruiters consistently overlooked qualifications and performance, focusing instead on hints of applicants’ origin or faith.

Dr. Ali Zafer Sağıroğlu, director of the Center for Migration Studies at the Migration Research Foundation, said the findings show that non-European applicants remain “kept in a separate tier” and are denied equal opportunities.

“This form of institutionalized racism is both visible and measurable,” he said, noting that Arabs, Turks, and Russians experience higher rejection rates.

He warned that Islamophobia represents a distinct and targeted form of bias. “People are discriminated against solely because they are Muslim–culturally and religiously.

This is a painful reality that must be addressed,” Sağıroğlu said. He linked the persistence of prejudice to the rise of far-right political rhetoric after the 2015 refugee crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, both of which intensified anti-immigrant sentiment.

While European governments have introduced measures to address racism, Sağıroğlu argued that these steps remain insufficient.

“The results demonstrate that people from outside Europe are still not fully accepted here. Even after decades, they continue to face discrimination,” he said, stressing that Europe still has “a long way to go” to ensure genuine equality and human rights.

The researcher pointed to the growing influence of far-right parties in Germany and across Europe, many of which openly advocate xenophobic policies.

He urged authorities to implement reforms such as simplifying hiring procedures for foreigners and offering incentives to employers to help create fairer recruitment practices.

Sağıroğlu underscored the role of education in breaking discriminatory patterns, calling for awareness to be promoted from early schooling through higher education and professional life.

He also called for stronger state action. “When we talk about institutionalized racism, there is both a state and social dimension,” he said. “Governments must adopt firm policies and enact legal reforms to eradicate discrimination within state institutions.”

Germany hosts the world’s largest overseas Turkish community, numbering around 2.8 million people, many descended from workers who arrived in the 1960s and 1970s. Roughly half still hold Turkish passports, while the rest have German citizenship.

The community has long voiced concerns over anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish discrimination, including attacks on mosques, Turkish businesses, and diplomatic missions.

According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, more than 500 incidents involving Quran burnings occurred across Western Europe in recent years, underscoring the persistence of anti-Muslim hostility.