How Menopause Affects Teachers: Workplace Experiences, Outcomes, and Influences - An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Study

An increasing number of women are experiencing menopause while working, and growing body of evidence highlights its impact not only on individual work outcomes but also as a gendered workplace issue. Bodily ageing is experienced differently for women, as aged, gendered and ableist dynamics intersect at work. Despite, the increase in menopause attention in the media, research, policy and society, there is limited work-place context specific literature and guidance. Although teaching is a female dominated profession, there is little research which explores the impact of menopause on teachers in England. The secondary school teaching profession is suffering from recruitment and retention issues, with teachers reporting high levels of burnout and stress. This doctoral study explores the impact of menopause on teacher work outcomes, and the role of the work environment in teacher work-related menopause experiences; contextualising menopause as a mid-life challenge influenced not only by work and symptoms, but wider social norms. A mixed-method explanatory approach was used to fully explore an understudied area and provide a broad and deep understanding of menopause in secondary teaching. An initial cross-sectional quantitative survey collected findings which outlined the association between menopause symptoms and work outcomes, with Likert Scales then used to identify teachers’ experiences on menopause in teaching. Semi-structured interviews, conducted over MS Teams were conducted after the quantitative data analysis, to explain further and dig deeper into the findings from the survey. This doctoral thesis further builds on literature which identifies a bi-directional relationship between menopause and the workplace, with the Job-Demands Resource model used to illustrate how menopause symptoms can exacerbate the imbalance between high demands and limited support in teaching. Through an ecological analytical lens, this thesis also considers the influence of the medical and home settings in teachers work-related menopause experiences; and highlights how wider societal silence and stigma reinforce workplace inequalities for teachers. Finally, recommendations are put forward for menopause accommodations in teaching, and the need for cultural changes across the profession.