Challenging the menopause taboo to empower women in the workplace
Research by Professor Vanessa Beck
Most of the population, including people who go through menopause themselves, do not understand enough about it. The impact of this on women in the workplace can be huge. In addition to the physical symptoms of menopause such as fatigue, bleeding and hot flushes, there are also psychological symptoms including anxiety and insecurity.
Vanessa Beck, Professor in Employment Studies at the University of Bristol Business School, has been researching menopause in the workplace since she co-authored a report on the effect of menopause transition on women’s economic participation in the UK for the Government Equalities Office (GEO) in 2017. This report reviewed existing literature on the impact of women’s menopause transition on their participation in the labour market. The report found that there were huge gaps in knowledge within the existing literature and there was significant demand to look at menopause in a different way.
As a result, Dr Beck carried out a range of research projects with different organisations including Universities, councils and the TUC (Trade Union Congress). One such project was carried out with Bristol City Council. Previously, academic research had focused on three means of support: menopause policies or guidelines, training and awareness raising, and the re-institution of Menopause Clinics. This project with Bristol City Council explored the implementation of health and wellbeing approaches as an alternative to introducing a menopause policy in a local council in the UK.
An online survey was conducted among employees of the council, which covered perceptions of menopause in the workplace and gathered information on respondents' experiences and the support they were offered. The survey was repeated a year later. Results showed that the council's employees actively sought support and information about menopause from various sources.
The survey also revealed that discussing menopause at work was considered taboo, with a significant number of respondents disagreeing that menopause can be openly discussed. Even in the second survey, 43% of respondents indicated they talked about menopause only among women, 45% only with close work colleagues in private conversations, and 25% indicated that they talked about menopause only as a joke. The survey indicated that ethnicity could impact the experience of unkind words or behaviour related to menopause, with higher proportions of respondents with non-white ethnic backgrounds reporting such experiences.
Dr Beck worked with Rebecca Blatt of Bristol City Council to provide support for women experiencing menopause. The Council ran a whole range of activities, including workshops, information and training provision, and identifying menopause-friendly temperature areas in workspaces. It is clear, however, that the challenges faced by people going through menopause transition are varied and complex and for this reason, a ‘one size fits all’ policy would not be effective.
The insights gained by Bristol City Council allowed them to identify three top requests made by women; education, wellbeing plans and adaptations. The research showed that having an integrated approach that encompasses all these elements, with robust training was key to supporting women in the workplace. Rebecca Blatt, a trade union representative at Bristol City Council, said the process had been extremely successful. She explains that they request feedback after each of their menopause workshops and the most common response from women is that the experience is ‘life-changing’.