Women’s empowerment: an issue that matters to everyone

Why is female empowerment important? What does it mean and what are its implications in one’s life? What can it contribute to ensure that there are no limitations on your opportunities at personal, professional and leadership levels for the sole reason that you are a woman and not a man?

What does female empowerment mean?

A woman is empowered, in the sense we are talking about here, if she doesn’t have to work harder than her male colleagues to show what she is worth; if she sees that she has the same opportunities for financial and professional development, and if she can occupy the same positions and play roles that normally have a more male presence: in politics, in culture, in business. And if she occupies the same kind of places, not to be discriminated against with sexist comments, or if she adopts a behaviour in accordance with her femininity, or to be “naturally” excluded from social and/or leisure events for not belonging to the club, even if she belongs to the same team.

There have always been professions which we associate more with one sex or another, hence sometimes we speak of feminine professions – all those which are occupied by women – or masculine professions, in which the opposite happens. Professional activities that belong to the education, health sector are associated with female professions and male professions include jobs in finance, technology and engineering among others.

We find it natural for a woman to be a nurse, a dancer, a teacher, a secretary, but we already find it strange or resist that a man carries out these functions. We are used to the fact that it is normally men who are company owners or general directors, engineers, computer programmers, among others, and women are the ones who naturally take care of the “home”, or are “helped” in something that is everyone’s responsibility.

Many of these differences may derive from individual interests, or individual characteristics, which is legitimate. What needs to be considered is whether the greater male presence in jobs that are better paid, or the fact that in many cases women are paid less than men, even though they do the same work and perform equally well, is not due to the existence of unfavourable starting conditions for one of the sides, without there being, where necessary, compensatory measures to make possibilities possible.

Even today, women still need to work more to show what they are worth, they still carry out most of the tasks related to caring for the home, children and elders, and they do not always manage to reconcile motherhood and career.

In recent years, increasing attention has begun to be paid to implementing government and company-level practices and policies that promote equal opportunities for men and women and give women more power in the public domain.

What is the relevance of talking about female empowerment?

It is important to talk about this female empowerment because equality between men and women is a fundamental and inviolable human right and is an almost universal value. However, most women still find it difficult to perform certain professions and to occupy high management positions, even though they are often better qualified and more experienced.

Some of the differences we have talked about have been reduced in recent years, particularly for those born between 1980 and 1990 (the millennials), but there is still a significant difference between the number of men in management positions, with higher salaries, than women.

It is important to break down the barriers that limit the possibilities of access for any citizen, regardless of gender, and to develop measures that can eliminate or minimise the effect of the existing differences in roles between men and women, which are determined by reasons that no longer make sense today.

Contrary to the past, there are many families in which both men and women work. Situations where women only work at home (unpaid work) are a minority. It is therefore important to break the stereotype that men’s work is more suited to the public sphere, with a greater degree of autonomy and leadership, while women’s work is associated with the domestic universe, with caring activities or subordination.

There are differences motivated by individual characteristics and interests (there is a greater inclination of women towards professions with less professional prominence because of the importance they give to private or public life, or to family or professional life) and in terms of the way work has been organised “by sexes”: men in the public sphere and women in the private sphere.

What is the relevance of female empowerment?

Besides being a fundamental right, several studies show the positive effects on society in countries that give more power to women, namely in what concerns poverty reduction, corruption and improvement of financial results.

Women’s empowerment decreases poverty and corruption

According to a World Bank study on Development and Gender in countries where women’s rights are promoted, there is faster economic growth and less corruption than in countries where this does not occur.

Companies that promote equal opportunities have better results

A study, carried out by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., concludes that companies that invest in equal opportunity practices are more competitive. This and other studies show that combining individual and collective interests is beneficial for business and for the development of society.

What is the relationship between female empowerment and leadership?

The relationship between female empowerment and leadership has at least two sides. The first refers to the valuing and investment of leaders, with greater power in the organisation in the defence of equal opportunities. The second one refers to the difference in the number of men and women in management or leadership positions.

In Portugal, an entity that has developed an important work in the female empowerment, particularly at the level of encouraging learning groups, sharing and professional mutual help, is the PWN – Professional Women Network, namely through the creation of an innovative leadership development course, in which I participate and that was designed by the psycho-pedagogy expert and Mindflow consultant, Mónica Rodrigues.

Leadership is a function that can be developed in people who have the interest and motivation to do so. Two practices that greatly help the development of leadership, particularly because of the difficulties experienced, which are usually higher when it comes to women, are mentoring and coaching.

In mentoring, a more experienced professional guides, advises, suggests actions that promote professional and career development. In the case of coaching, a professional specialised in the art of questioning, listening and knowing how to “inform” establishes a partnership with someone who needs to decide, develop a competence or reach a certain goal, in order to release and apply existing potential. These two practices, particularly the latter, are especially important for female empowerment.

There are issues common to all people, but when it comes to leadership issues there are a number of difficulties that are more frequent in women than in men, namely issues related to self-confidence, “fear”, conflict management, time management, negotiation, communication and image.