Abstract:

Morocco has made significant efforts to promote entrepreneurship over the past decade, yet gender gaps remain wide and their underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. This study asks how personal representations, social norms, and biographical disruptions shape entrepreneurial intentions differently for men and women in the Moroccan context.

We adopted a qualitative exploratory design, drawing on three theoretical frameworks: Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour, Shapero and Sokol's (1982) Entrepreneurial Event Model, and the gender approach to entrepreneurship (Ahl, 2006; Brush, 1992). Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with Moroccan entrepreneurs — 12 men and 8 women — between January and March 2025 in Casablanca, Kenitra, and Tangier. Data were processed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006).