Changing lives: Transformative learning and financial attitudes of Filipino women migrants in Italy

Abstract Faced with impoverishment after the financial crisis of 2008, Filipino women migrants in Italy struggle to sustain their financial commitments to their families in the Philippines. Research shows that financial literacy and entrepreneurship (FLE) education can improve financial management and decision-making processes. Spanning a period of eighteen months, this case study aimed at investigating whether the existing training modules organised by Atikha, the Filipino Women Council and the ALSE OF-LIFE Consortium in Italy have led to changes in the financial attitudes of the thirty-three interviewed Filipinas who attended the programs in the last ten years. This paper seeks to highlight the value of FLE training in promoting the transformative interpretation of individual perspectives in line with Mezirow’s Transformative Learning process. The training programs can be viewed as empowering interventions, capable of contributing to the development of new personal and financial goals. The interviewees’ responses to the in-depth, semi-structured interviews showed that the FLE programs have helped participants critically assess how to develop more productive attitudes towards financial management, and identify sustainable forms of support to their left-behind families.