37: Prof Rebecca Mitchell: Researching the intersection of menopause and women's careers

Explicit content warning

12/22/22 • 44 min

How do we change the narrative around menopause in the workplace?
Professor Rebecca Mitchell, of Macquarie Business School, is leading a study that draws together Macquarie Business School’s Health & Wellbeing Research Unit and Psychological Sciences researchers of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, to answer that question.
The project explores the intersection of menopause and women’s careers through a positive psychology lens.

Professor Mitchell says... "women are to some extent on their own when it comes to managing menopause. There are big gaps in the research around how women, as leaders, progress through this period."

“There's nothing [in the literature] about how women can become more effective, more productive, how they can change careers, be adaptable, transition into new ways of working; there's nothing about that at all."

“Nobody wants to talk about it. And that's amplified by the fact that people don't know what to say, because there's this dearth of research to guide them. There's a skerrick of research that looks at what can be done, but a lot of the solutions are generic: time off, education and training, and so on.”
Expect to learn a lot in this episode with Rebecca about exactly what it takes to introduce policy change into workplaces. It's a lot more complicated than I initially realised.
Topics we discuss:

The questions workplaces and leaders should be asking, but aren't
Why announcements around additional sick leave are tokenist, only providing a stop-gap solution
Why many women give up on their leadership and career progression goals as a result of menopause
What research is being done, how and how long it will take
How you can be involved in the research

LINKS
Email: [email protected]
About Rebecca
RELATED EPISODES
Prof Jayashri Kulkarni: Mental Health and Menopause

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Professor Mitchell says... "women are to some extent on their own when it comes to managing menopause. There are big gaps in the research around how women, as leaders, progress through this period."

The questions workplaces and leaders should be asking, but aren't
Why announcements around additional sick leave are tokenist, only providing a stop-gap solution
Why many women give up on their leadership and career progression goals as a result of menopause
What research is being done, how and how long it will take
How you can be involved in the research

LINKS
Email: [email protected]
About Rebecca
RELATED EPISODES
Prof Jayashri Kulkarni: Mental Health and Menopause

Thank you for listening to my show!
Join the conversation on Instagram

Previous Episode

36: Susan Jarvis: Stripping away stigma and expressing sexuality (NSFW)

Has menopause led to you shutting up shop on your sexuality?
A few years ago, Susan Jarvis (in her own words) went from being a very horny, lustful ‘wench’ to someone who had virtually shut up shop on their sexuality. She once thrived on being a hot-blooded woman, it gave her confidence and energy knowing that she had a lust for life and lived a life with passion.
Wearing red lipstick every day with pride, Susan went from feeling euphoric about going to work wearing the smile on her face from the previous night’s orgasm to dragging herself in and feeling like a dried-out, old horn bag with a flat battery.
** WARNING: this episode comes with a Not Safe For Work, Listening in Public or Children warning. Def get the headphones out!
Susan considers herself to be an ordinary woman who discovered her extraordinary self by tapping into her sexual energy. Susan shares her wisdom...
"I have experienced a transformation from a stale and empty life, to one full of love, passion, laughter and yes, bloody good sex. All because I had the guts to try. The guts to step outside my boundaries and the guts not to care what people thought of me.
This doesn’t mean that I went on an escapade of sexual conquests and swinging from the rafters. Rather, my journey was about listening to my intuition, developing self-awareness and improving my communication and interpersonal skills. I modified my perceptions of self and shifted my mindset from being conservative to being adventurous. In other words, letting go of a lot of crap in my life.
I am passionate about helping other women, and men, find their extraordinary self, to embrace their sexuality. In particular, I feel extremely frustrated that persons aged over 50, and people living with a disability and/or chronic illness are not represented in the landscape of ageless and positive sexuality. We are alive, and we desire, and deserve sexual fulfilment!
In this episode, we discuss Susan's role as The Maven and her online business The Spicy Boudoir. We also breakdown why Susan believes that education, masturbation and communication are the secrets to great sex.
Topics discussed include:

masturbation and sex
sex toys and pleasure products
supporting those aged over 50 and people living with a disability and/or chronic illness to experience positive sexuality
impacts of menopause on libido and desire

LINKS
The Spicy Boudoir Website
The Mavens Private Diaries
HappyPause Menopause Balm
The Spicy Boudoir on Instagram
The Spicy Boudoir on Facebook
Ghosts (UK version)

RELATED EPISODES
Dr Kelly Casperson: Sex, Desire & Body Image
Dr Shreya Andric: Menopause and skin changes
Sandy Davies: Formulating natural relief for intimate dryness

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Next Episode

38: Best of 2022: Top 5 episodes as voted by you!

Who will take the honour of the most downloaded episode in 2022?
In this episode, we revisit the top 5 episodes you chose to listen to. Join me as I count them down, from five to one, and share a short extract from each.
I loved pulling this episode together. With such diverse topics and guests brought to you throughout the year, reviewing what resonated with you the most was fascinating.
Enjoy!

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Dear Menopause - 37: Prof Rebecca Mitchell: Researching the intersection of menopause and women's careers

Transcript

[00:04]Rebecca, thank you so much for joining me today.
[01:31] Rebecca: Thank you so much. I'm really excited to chat to you.
[01:34] Sonya: Amazing. So let's kick things off by why don't you introduce yourself to the audience and tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.
[01:43] Rebecca: Well, I'm Rebecca Mitchell, I work at Macquarie University and I lead a center there called the Health and Well Being at Work Research Unit. So we like it because the acronym is how ar