CAES Morocco: Leading Across Differences

Touring the Driscoll's berry processing plant in Morocco showed me how differently people can think about gender roles acrross different countries. At the plant, berry inspection was done specifically by women, and the reason given was that women are more gentle with the fruit and pay closer attention to detail. What stood out was not the division of labor itself but how openly it was stated. In Morocco, people seemed more willing to name perceived differences between men and women and to organize work around them, while in the United States that same reasoning would more likely be treated as an assumption to question. Much of what we call "gender roles" may really come down to which differences a culture is comfortable saying out loud. This more open attitude reflects a broader difference in perspective. Morocco has one of the lowest rates of female labor force participation in the world, and research points to traditional gender norms as a major reason women remain out...

Having the opportunity to tour ENA in Meknes helped further shape how I understand educational opportunity. I now see that access to higher education depends on two things: how affordable it is, and how many seats are available. The United States and Morocco differ on both, and ENA Meknes showed me why that matters. ENA is a small, specialized school that admits only a limited number of students each year. Because the cohort is small, getting in is difficult regardless of how qualified an applicant is. In the United States, applying to college feels like a normal step that most students expect to take, so I had assumed that any motivated, capable student could find a place somewhere. My time in Meknes showed me that this is not true when a school is small by design. In that situation, the limit is not how many students want to attend, but how few spots exist. The enrollment data supports this. In 2022, the United States had a gross tertiary enrollment ratio of about 79%, while Morocco...

As someone who is not Muslim, so this trip has been highly insightful into the various beliefs, practices, and traditions of the faith. As we have been in Morocco, I have begun to realize that most of what I know about Islam is from classes, but not from personal experience or by knowing someone who is very familiar with the faith. I had many questions coming in of whether I would be looked at differently for not wearing a hijab or if religious tolerance was common practice. I didn't realize until now just how many misconceptions I had because of my lack of personal observation and interaction experience. I thought it was beautiful how numerous guides emphasized multifaith coexistence emphasizing that people of different faiths live together peacefully without any issues. After doing some further research I even found that in 2019, King Muhammad IV warmly welcomed Pope Francis as a symbol of tolerance and coexistence. Although it is considered illegal to convert away from Islam, it...