Gender and women’s self-employment in the Moroccan context of rural cooperatives

https://doi.org/10.55214/25768484.v9i7.8717

Authors

  • Sara Damou Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco. https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2390-0072
  • Meryem Harmaz EDVANTIS Higher Education group, Morocco.
  • Ben Ahmed Hougua Political Law and Political Science at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8907-568X
  • Ahmed Aftiss Management Sciences at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco.

In Morocco, the participation of rural women in socio-economic life is not only a matter of human rights but also a social benefit to be gained through the development of their skills and talents. Cooperatives are recognized and recommended worldwide as a model for supporting women economically and socially, reducing gender inequalities, and fostering local development through their economic contributions. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of women's cooperatives on rural women's self-employability and gender inequalities. At the same time, we move beyond a macroeconomic perspective to a social and relational one, through the subjective and concrete experiences of Moroccan women's cooperatives. To this end, we used a qualitative methodology based on snowball sampling to collect data on the ways and degrees to which members experience an improvement in their employability after joining cooperatives, drawing on the real-life narratives of women from rural backgrounds. The study reveals that cooperatives enable women to create their own employment opportunities, strengthening their economic and social independence and their ability to support themselves and their families. Although cooperatives do not have a direct and immediate effect on gender inequalities, they do at least help to reduce them to some extent. Inequalities remain influenced by cultural legacies and traditional norms in rural areas, which are difficult to change even after women have achieved financial and social independence.

Section

How to Cite

Damou, S. ., Harmaz, M. ., Hougua, B. A. ., & Aftiss, A. . (2025). Gender and women’s self-employment in the Moroccan context of rural cooperatives. Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology, 9(7), 690–703. https://doi.org/10.55214/25768484.v9i7.8717

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Dimension Badge

Download

Downloads

Issue

Section

Articles

Published

2025-07-09