• Study
• People
• Research
• Equality, diversity and inclusion
• About us
  • Facilities
  • News
  • Events
  • Equality and Diversity
    • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee
    • Gender Equality
      • Menopause
    • Mental Health & Wellbeing
    • Race & ethnicity
    • Disability
    • LGBTQ+
    • Family Friendly Working
    • Faith & religion
    • Widening Participation
    • Sexual violence, harassment & bullying
    • Beacon Activities
    • Resources and Reports
  • Departmental history
  • Schools liaison and outreach
• Contact us
• Current staff and students

Supporting those experiencing menopause

The Department is committed to supporting staff and students during perimenopause and menopause. We aim to raise awareness and develop a culture around menopause that supports those experiencing symptoms and enables managers, supervisors, tutors and others to have sensitive conversations with and support those they line manage, work alongside or teach.

Below, we've provided links which signpost to a range of resources to help inform line managers, colleagues and individuals experiencing menopause.

Support at the University

• Menopause advice page
• Human Resources menopause guidance
• Menopause Slack channel
• LinkedIn Learning: 'Menopause in the Workplace: A Guide to Supporting Your Colleagues' (Login to the LMS required).

Departmental support

Case studies

• Alison Edmonds: The menopause and me

Advice for line managers

Hester de Groot (Chemistry Administration Manager) is very happy to advise line managers on supporting staff experiencing menopause.

Desk fans

If you'd find it helpful to have a fan to help manage symptoms, please speak to either Graeme McAllister (chem-opsman@york.ac.uk)  or Leonie Jones (leonie.jones@york.ac.uk).

The department has a number of fans available, including some small USB fans which are quieter and more discreet. If you have a fan you are no longer using, please return it to the chemistry operations office (C/A133) so that someone else can use it.

External resources

Support for individuals

• Menopause guidance and information from the NHS
• BBC Woman’s Hour: Menopause tips
• Endocrine Society Resources: Menopause Map

Menopause and the workplace

• Nature career feature: Why menopause matters in the academic workplace
• Faculty of Occupational Medicine information
• TUC trade union congress Menopause Toolkit  
• RCN Menopause at Work Guidance
• BSI standard: Menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace
• A study from Health Sciences on Women’s priorities for women’s health
• International menopause society

Menopause contacts and allies

If you would like to talk through any of the effects of menopause on your work or study, the following staff are happy to chat, Alison Edmonds (alison.edmonds@york.ac.uk), Hester de Groot (hester.degroot@york.ac.uk), Leonie Jones (leonie.jones@york.ac.uk) and John Slattery (john.slattery@york.ac.uk).

Get involved

These resources have been developed following focus groups and discussions with members of the department. If you’d like to suggest other resources, get involved in activities in this area or discuss potential issues, we’d really appreciate your feedback. If so, please get in touch with us: Chair of Chemistry's EDI Committee (john.slattery@york.ac.uk), Chemistry’s Equality and Diversity Officer (leonie.jones@york.ac.uk), Chemistry’s Administration Manager (hester.degroot@york.ac.uk) and Head of Department (chem-hod@york.ac.uk).