Pathways to women's empowerment and social inclusion through cooperative entrepreneurship: Insights from Morocco

Abstract This article investigates the role of cooperative entrepreneurship in the empowerment and social inclusion of women. The study focuses on a sample of 558 women members of cooperatives in the Souss Massa region of Morocco. A quantitative approach using structural equation modelling was adopted. The results indicate that cooperative entrepreneurship strengthens women's empowerment on psychological, economic and social levels, thereby facilitating their social inclusion. The study also identifies factors that influence the degree of women's empowerment, such as their level of education, seniority and the position they hold within the cooperative.