Morocco Outpaces France in Percentage of Women Pursuing Engineering Degrees

Kenza Mouloudi, a student at the Centrale School of Casablanca, believes she made the right choice. "In Moroccan society, a woman engineer is respected. My expertise will be recognized, it is socially rewarding," she explains to the newspaper Le Figaro. Like her, several young Moroccan girls choose to join the engineering schools of the kingdom. According to a UNESCO report published in 2021, 42% of the students in these schools are girls, compared to only 28% in France, according to data from the Conference of Directors of French Engineering Schools (CDEFI).

In Morocco, "the best students, girls and boys, choose preparatory classes and engineering schools. Training is seen as the path of the elite," explains Ghita Lahlou, director of the Centrale Casablanca school where she was trained. For this businesswoman, young Moroccan girls are investing in these institutions to "acquire the tools and legitimacy needed to assert themselves in environments considered masculine."

Hafssa El Mrchani, a scholarship student at the National School of Arts and Crafts (ENSAM) in Rabat, received the 2023 Maghreb Engineering Student Award, awarded by the CDEFI, following a competition aimed at encouraging young girls to choose engineering courses. "To get there, family support is crucial. Moroccan mothers are fighters, they are the ones who encourage their daughters to study, to become independent," says Hafssa.

"The level in scientific subjects is good in Moroccan public schools," analyzes Doha Sahraoui, lecturer at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, specifying that once graduated, these women will have to assert themselves in so-called "masculine" sectors, such as industry, civil engineering and construction. But this is without counting on "pregnancies and motherhood" which, according to the researcher, "could affect the careers of these women. They risk potentially facing family or employer pressure."