I choose to develop my dissertation about the empowerment concept in modern society, starting from the specific characteristics to the new professional figures and the new development strategies of this concept.

Empowerment was born in the USA, in the 50s and 60s, which were years of action for colored citizen’s rights, for women emancipation and for the economic growth. Thanks to all the people who have always seen their rights been denied, and decided to improve self-confidence and self-determination in order to stand up for themselves and to fight for human rights. 

The first empowerment context is the educational one, which includes education and family system. On one hand, the teacher should establish a relationship with the student, based on confidence and safety, on the other hand, the parent should increase the subject capability as regards growing, developing and taking responsibility.

The second empowerment context is the sport point of view, we can see how the empowerment enhances the fundamental characteristics of the individual, such as the sense of accomplishment, identity, and self-efficacy. It has been demonstrated that empowerment increases all these characteristics in disabled people too. We can see improvements as regards attention, motivation, and memorization. 

The third empowerment context is about work. Do you have ever heard about motivator, life coach, motivational speakers or navigators? These people work in all the contexts we just saw, from sport to education, from work to private life. A motivator is someone who has the capabilities and the authority to motivate, encourage and boost the others in order to reach an aim.

The expert who has to follow, guide and collocate the person who will receive the basic income subsidy is him: The Navigator. He is responsible for following personally the beneficiary of the subsidy, helping him to find a job, an educational opportunity or a return to work.

The fourth empowerment context is about gender equality, from the sexist advertising to the gender pay gap. Concerning to 2014 data of the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat, in the world does not exist a country in which men and women, in the same role, have the same pay. 

Concerning the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in the whole world, the women’s pay on average is 23% less than the men’s one. Moreover, thanks to the women empowerment, it is possible to change this situation. For several years, awareness campaigns, fighting for women’s rights, have been spreading all around the world, such as the solidarity campaign for human equality, founded in 2014, by UN Women: “#HeForShe”. During the 2014 UN Speech on Gender Equality, the Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson underlines the fact that the gender inequality problem affects, in a way, the whole society. When she was young, she always felt this kind of gap, especially when her peers called her “bossy”. 

If all the women, from an early age, learned to know their capability and to believe in themselves, there would be a lot of women who fight for their rights, against discriminations.

The world is changing, and we need the empowerment right for this change. We need to believe in improvement, in freedom of thought, in the evolution of the human being. I am perfectly aware of the fact that, in 2019, there are countries in which the women conditions are extremely far from our reality. 

We can just think about the decriminalization of domestic violence in Russia, or simply about all the “traditions” like infibulation, child brides, arranged marriages, the woman condition in Islam, and so on. 

In this kind of reality, the empowerment is not sufficient to change these situations, but I firmly believe in its importance, and in the importance of teaching this concept, in order to start an absolutely necessary change.

The fifth empowerment context is about cooperation and development, in particular in South America. I’m referring to all the movements against violence on women, sexual abuse, femicide, etc. in Argentine.

Recently we read on the internet, hashtags, and slogans, which denounce unacceptable situations of violence against women, who started, thanks to collective empowerment, a series of protests, which in turn, represents few steps for a radical change. Among the empowerment development strategies, there is mentoring. It refers to a relationship between a mentor, who has more experience and a mentee, who has less experience.

Concerning my personal experience, during the Erasmus Traineeship period, I could appreciate this empowerment development strategy. From August to November 2018, I worked as a receptionist, in Spain. During the first two weeks, I had a guide beside me, my mentor, she gave me daily tasks and was always available for explanations or clarifications. This kind of mentoring is called “one to one” mentoring, of course, there are other forms of mentoring like the e-mentoring, which is online; the peer mentoring, which is among mentors and so on. This kind of relationship is very useful not only for the mentee, who obtains new skills but also for the mentor, who is able to increase and upgrade his skills. 

I want to underline, once again, how the empowerment concept should be important in modern society. We are living in an era of independence and redemption for all women and all humans who suffered for centuries. Thanks to self-assertion and self-confidence, it would be possible to fight for a better world, based on the respect of human rights, and to fight for reaching and keeping world peace.

Because only if you believe in yourself, you can believe to change the world; only if you have confidence in your possibility and know your limits, you will be able to overcome them and to make something great.