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Women’s Health in/and Work: Menopause as an Intersectional Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Kathleen Riach

    (Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
    Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI), School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne 3800, Australia)

  • Gavin Jack

    (Monash Business School, Monash University, Melbourne 3145, Australia)

Abstract

This paper employs an intersectional lens to explore menopausal experiences of women working in the higher education and healthcare sectors in Australia. Open-text responses from surveys across three universities and three healthcare settings were subject to a multistage qualitative data analysis. The findings explore three aspects of menopause experience that required women to contend with a constellation of aged, gendered and ableist dynamics and normative parameters of labor market participation. Reflecting on the findings, the paper articulates the challenges of menopause as issues of workplace inequality that are rendered visible through an intersectional lens. The paper holds a range of implications for how to best support women going through menopause at work. It emphasizes the need for approaches to tackle embedded and more complex modes of inequality that impact working women’s menopause, and ensure that workforce policy both protects and supports menopausal women experiencing intersectional disadvantage.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathleen Riach & Gavin Jack, 2021. "Women’s Health in/and Work: Menopause as an Intersectional Experience," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-17, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10793-:d:656316
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clare Butler, 2020. "Managing the Menopause through ‘Abjection Work’: When Boobs Can Become Embarrassingly Useful, Again," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(4), pages 696-712, August.
    2. Victoria Opara & Ruth Sealy & Michelle K. Ryan, 2020. "The workplace experiences of BAME professional women: Understanding experiences at the intersection," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1192-1213, November.
    3. Eline Jammaers & Jannine Williams, 2021. "Care for the self, overcompensation and bodily crafting: The work–life balance of disabled people," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 119-137, January.
    4. Tessa Wright, 2013. "Uncovering sexuality and gender: an intersectional examination of women's experience in UK construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(8), pages 832-844, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marianne Gjellestad & Kristin Haraldstad & Heidi Enehaug & Migle Helmersen, 2023. "Women’s Health and Working Life: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Stefania D’Angelo & Gregorio Bevilacqua & Julia Hammond & Elena Zaballa & Elaine M. Dennison & Karen Walker-Bone, 2022. "Impact of Menopausal Symptoms on Work: Findings from Women in the Health and Employment after Fifty (HEAF) Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.

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