Menopause, work and mid-life: Challenging the ideal worker stereotype

Abstract

This article investigates how the complexity of life domains of menopause-aged women creates a paradox of simultaneously challenging the ideal worker stereotype while being caught within it. The empirical setting of menopause at work acts to highlight how work, life, and health pressures are entangled in how women present themselves at work, through varying organizational and societal expectations of being ‘fit for work’. We draw on 80 semi-structured, life-course interviews of women over 50 working in four occupational settings: social care, manufacturing, finance, and self-employed. Findings are presented through three empirical vignettes, providing unique insight into how ideal worker expectations perpetuate or challenge the persistent silencing of ‘being’ menopausal at work, reinforced by life domain experiences relevant to mid-life. We present a theoretical contribution to ideal worker theory by highlighting that women who redefine the ideal worker stereotype might be less vulnerable to gendered ageist workplace cultures. We provide a practical contribution for how organizations can better support this generation and future generations of mid-life women at work.