Understanding women's experiences of menopause in the workplace

Menopause is a biological process that women experience, and it can be associated with many physical and emotional changes, making it a challenging and complicated time. Symptoms may have an impact on mental health, causing low mood or anxiety, affect cognitive function, resulting in brain fog, or have a physiological impact, including hot flushes, night sweats, weight gain, and joint stiffness.

There are 4 million women aged between 45 to 55 years old in the workplace in the United Kingdom, and a large majority of these women will experience menopause. 

It is therefore vital to understand women’s experiences of menopause transition so that more informative and effective support can be provided and supplement the minimal literature on the topic to expand on understanding.

Understanding experiences of menopause 

Dr Nicola Dimelow, University Teacher in the School of Psychology, launched a research project looking to understand women’s experience of menopause transition when in the workplace.

Women who were experiencing or had experienced menopause whilst employed by the University were invited to share their experiences.

“Whilst many women transition through the menopause with few symptoms, others may suffer from one or several of the wide-ranging symptoms associated with menopause. 

“Research investigating the impact of menopause symptoms on work to date is relatively scarce. The evidence that is available suggests that some women experience at least one adverse work-related outcome, such as the need to reduce working hours, sickness absence, retirement or leaving the workplace (Faubion et al., 2023). The negative consequences of menopause in the workplace should not be ignored.

“My own personal experience of menopause and how I have had to adjust and manage my symptoms to remain in the workplace led me to be interested in the topic and begin my research. The analysis of my research is in its preliminary stages, but currently shows that 20 symptoms were noted to have most impacted work and the most common symptoms include lack of confidence, cognitive challenges, including memory and word production, brain fog, and sleep disturbance/exhaustion. “

How the findings will inform the support offered by the University

Around half of our university colleagues will experience menopause. It is important that we not only support these individuals but also ensure that their line managers have knowledge of the support available and their role in creating a supportive environment. 

“Whilst some women sail through menopause, 3 out of 4 experience symptoms and as many as 1 in 4 have serious symptoms. However, around half have never consulted a healthcare professional about their menopause, and research shows that the majority of women are unwilling to discuss menopause related problems with their line manager or ask for the support they need.  

“We are really interested to see the findings of Nicola’s research and to gain valuable insight into what more we can do as an organisation to remove the barriers presented by transition to menopause and to enable colleagues to be successful in their roles regardless of the challenges that hormonal changes may bring.  

“We want to develop a workplace environment that is supportive, where women experiencing symptoms can get the help and support they need, within a culture where menopause is talked about openly and confidently”.

Human Resources Projects and Services, Staff Wellbeing team