CAES Morocco: Leading Across Differences

     Throughout our time in Morocco, we have been exposed to gender roles in many different contexts through professional visits, academic settings, and everyday life. Because of this exposure, I wanted to explore the social expectations surrounding gender roles. While women in Morocco are increasingly involved in education and professional settings, traditional gender expectations are still present in certain social and cultural environments.      It stood out to me how normalized these expectations often are. During one tour, a guide explained that many men in Morocco feel pressure to be the primary financial providers for their families. The way gender roles were being described to us made these roles seem less like rules and more like an assumed social structure, a structure where each gender has a “natural” set of responsibilities that is widely understood and expected.      This observation connects to research showing that women contin...