Social Origin, Education, and Occupational Mobility in Morocco: An OED Triangle Analysis

Abstract

Research on social mobility remains limited for Maghreb countries, particularly Morocco, where few studies empirically test the Origin–Education–Destination framework using large-scale national data. This article examines the relationship between social origin, education, and occupational mobility in Morocco using anonymized microdata from the 2014 General Population and Housing Census. The analysis is based on a sample of 200,042 adult sons and daughters of the household head. The results first show strong educational reproduction. The level of education attained is strongly associated with the educational level of the household head. They also confirm that education is a major pathway to advantaged occupational destinations. In the main binary logit model, secondary education increases the odds of reaching an advantaged or upper-intermediate occupational destination by about 3.75, while higher education increases them by about 16.18, compared with primary education or less. However, social origin retains an independent effect on occupational destination, even after controlling for individual education, sex, place of residence, and age group. The findings also highlight the role of rural residence and gender inequalities. Education therefore promotes occupational mobility, but its effects remain structured by social origin, territory, and gender.

Classification JEL : J62, I24, O15.

Paper type : Empirical Research