Women’s menopausal transitions at work
This qualitative research project examines the interplay between women’s working lives and their menopausal transitions, including the symptoms accompanying menopause.
The purpose of the research project is to illuminate how women's menopausal transitions influence and are influenced by working life, both bodily and materially. Furthermore, how to foster better working lives for women experiencing challenging menopausal symptoms by developing supporting workplace policy guidelines.
Despite a growing public interest, there is a dearth of research-based knowledge about women’s menopausal transitions at work in a Danish context. Simultaneously, there is a growing interest in health and well-being across work life phases. As such, this project has been initiated to illuminate the interplay between women’s working lives and their menopausal transitions, and to investigate how sustainable working lives can be supported through menopause policy guidelines at work.
The research project is led by Associate Professor Maria Hybholt and PhD Student Anna Lyngdal Wulff from the Section of Social Medicine at the Department of Public Health, and Professor Astrid Jespersen from Copenhagen Center for Health Research in the Humanities (CoRe) at the SAXO Institute.
In this project, we analyze women’s menopausal transitions at work as a complex cultural, social and bodily phenomenon. While each woman experiences a unique cocktail of menopause symptoms, these symptoms can include sleep disturbances, mood swings, heavy periods, poor memory, poor concentration, and hot flushes, which can result in shame and frustration as well as lead to shorter or longer periods of sick leave from work. Furthermore, menopausal transitions can be negatively associated with taboo, stigma and gendered ageism.
As such, international studies have shown that 25% of women experience that menopausal complaints affect the quality of their working lives. Similarly, another study has shown that 6% of women stop working due to menopausal complaints, while 17% consider it. In this light, policy guidelines that support women going through this life phase is key for their well-being at work.
However, for some, menopausal transitions can also be associated positively with new opportunities, freedom, career advancements, self-development, and consolidated expertise. Thus, the aim of this project is not only to illuminate challenges, but also emphasize the opportunities, resources and capabilities that arise during this life phase, which can be key for the development and implementation of policy guidelines on menopausal transitions at work.
Study Design
The project is based on qualitative research methods. The first phase includes 30 individual interviews, combined with daily diary notes, and photos from the everyday working lives of women working within the IT sector experiencing menopausal transitions. Participants are women aged 45-59 years, who report experiencing challenges in their working lives related to menopause symptoms being in their early post menopause. Often, working life is characterized by standardized working environments and time scheduling, requiring the capability to conform to certain workplace standards. While a growing number of workplaces around Denmark have an increased focus on flexibility and autonomy in working life, menopause often remains taboo for both women and their workplaces, leading to lack of awareness and openness about the challenges women face. Our hypothesis is that it is especially challenging to manage and address menopause symptoms in male-dominated sectors, such as the IT sector.
In the second phase, we conduct five focus group interviews with management representatives to generate knowledge about and develop workplace guidelines and initiatives. As such, when investigating the interplay between working life and menopausal transitions, we keep a special focus on the impact of the physical, material and practical working standards as well as the cultural and social norms in working life, including latent rules about how to feel and act accordingly, masking, mitigating and hiding bodily, menopausal complaints in working life.
Results and Dissemination
The project’s results will be published in relevant, academic and non-academic journals, and we will share our results through other relevant media platforms. We will ensure that our publications will be listed on this website for those interested in our research results.
PI:
Maria Hybholt, Associate Professor,
email maria.hybholt@sund.ku.dk,
phone 0045 35320840
Researchers
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
|
Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, Section of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen |
|
| Astrid Pernille Jespersen |
Professor, SAXO-Institute, University of Copenhagen |
|
PhD fellow, Department of Public Health, Section of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen |
Women’s menopausal transitions at work is funded by: VELUX FONDEN
Project period: 1.1.2025 – 31.12.2027
