Workplace identity, menopause and experiential narratives (WIMEN)
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Date
2026-04-27
Authors
Wall, Stephanie
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Publisher
University College Cork
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Abstract
The menopausal transition typically occurs during midlife, a period during which many women remain actively engaged in professional roles. Although research on menopause in the workplace has increased in recent years, much of the existing literature has focused primarily on symptom management and productivity outcomes, with comparatively limited attention to the psychological processes through which menopausal experiences intersect with workplace identity. This thesis aimed to explore how the menopausal transition shapes women’s workplace identities and how these identities are negotiated within everyday working life.
The thesis comprised of two complementary qualitative studies. The first study was a systematic review, which thematically synthesised existing evidence on how the menopausal transition shapes women’s workplace identities. Across the nine studies included in the review, menopausal symptoms were identified as destabilising to women’s professional selves, disrupting previously stable experiences of competence and credibility at work. Women engaged in strategies such as concealment, resilience, or selective disclosure in order to maintain professional functioning. The review also identified how cultural and structural contexts shape identity work, and identified significant limitations within the literature, particularly a lack of research examining how these identity processes unfold within the context of everyday working life.
The second study addressed this gap using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore how women made sense of menopausal experiences in everyday working life and how these experiences shaped workplace identity. Participants documented and reflected on their experiences of menopause in the context of work through structured reflective diaries completed over a four-week period, allowing experiential narratives to be captured as workplace experiences unfolded over time. This provided insight into how embodied changes, workplace expectations, and relational dynamics interact within everyday professional contexts, shaping how women interpreted their competence and professional selves. The analysis suggests that menopause functions as an identity-relevant developmental transition in which embodied disruption prompts processes of identity tension, renegotiation, and maintenance within professional contexts.
Drawing together insights from both studies, the thesis proposes a conceptual framework illustrating how menopausal identity disruption emerges through the interaction of embodied changes, organisational expectations surrounding professional performance, and relational recognition within workplace environments. Conceptually, the research advances menopause at work literature by positioning menopause as a psychological, relational, and organisational phenomenon rather than solely a biomedical or productivity-related issue. Methodologically, the use of structured reflective diaries enabled identity processes to be examined as they unfolded within everyday working life. The findings also highlight important implications for clinical psychology and organisational practice, emphasising the importance of recognising how menopausal experiences intersect with professional identity, belonging, and meaning making within workplace contexts.
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Keywords
Menopause , Workplace identity , Professional identity , Systematic review , Thematic synthesis , Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Citation
Wall, S. 2026. Workplace identity, menopause and experiential narratives (WIMEN). DClinPsych Thesis, University College Cork.