Blog 2- Ability or social status
One identity that stood out to me during our time in Morocco, was how a person’s economic position and access to opportunity can shape their daily life. Social status often influences education, employment, and long-term stability. In many rural areas of Morocco, women historically have had fewer economic opportunities due to limited access to formal employment and resources. According to the World Bank, improving women’s economic participation is closely tied to reducing poverty and strengthening community development.
One societal issue connected to social status is the cycle of limited economic opportunity, especially for women in rural communities. When individuals have fewer job options or lower-paying work, it can be difficult to invest in education, healthcare, or upward mobility. This cycle can affect entire families across generations. However, women’s cooperatives in Morocco, such as argan oil cooperatives, have been created to help break this cycle by providing stable income and skill-based employment for women who may not otherwise have access to formal job markets.
During our visit to the argan oil cooperative, what stood out to me most was how the organization actively worked to improve the social status of the women employed there. The cooperative was not just a workplace, but a support system. One of the most memorable parts of the visit was learning that the cooperative also provided schooling opportunities for employees’ children. Seeing this firsthand made it clear that the organization was invested in long-term change, not just immediate employment. It gave families access to education and stability that can shift their social and economic future.
This experience felt very different from what I am used to seeing in the United States. While there are programs and organizations that support low-income families, it is uncommon to see a workplace directly integrating education and childcare into its structure. The cooperative seemed to understand that improving social status requires more than wages. That approach made a strong impression on me because it showed how deeply connected work and family wellbeing can be.
Personally, this experience changed how I think about opportunity and social mobility. I realized that social status is not just an individual issue. Seeing how the cooperative provided both income and education made me think about how impactful it can be when organizations invest in people beyond their labor. It showed me that meaningful change often happens when communities support both economic and educational needs together.
World Bank. (2023). Morocco gender assessment: Addressing gaps and promoting opportunities for women. https://www.worldbank.org
International Labour Organization. (2023). Women and men in the informal economy: A statistical update. https://www.ilo.org
This is definitely something I've been very interested in throughout our trip as well as afterwards. I actually plan to write my paper on a similar topic of welfare and social services in the workplace. All over the world, aside from the United States in some aspects, women in rural communities bear the brunt of hard physical agricultural labor. It isn't always necessarily a gendered construction, as we learned touring the berry farm, but rather separation based on different skills. Unfortunately, it does still have the capacity to trap rural women in low-income positions that are very hard on their bodies. The Chile industry in India is a great example of this- there is a very lucrative season, but it is short-lived and incredibly physically taxing. Women struggle with upward mobility due to a lack of opportunity, but also a lack of social services that cater to female-specific needs in order to fulfill a working role. The United States especially has a problem with this, as we have a severe lack of affordable childcare and very little maternity leave. I really hope that the coming years will force the majority of people to fully understand the necessity of these services in greater economic output, and quality of life for both men and women worldwide.
ReplyDeleteRamanathapuram, T. D. (2022). In red hot pursuit: Tamil Nadu's chili farmers. People's Archive of Rural India. https://ruralindiaonline.org/article/in-red-hot-pursuit-tamil-nadus-chilli-farmers