For women looking to get ahead at work, menopause might be a boon rather than a barrier.
Researchers discovered that women in senior leadership roles who are going through menopause were more resilient, advocated more for themselves at work, and built more support networks that helped them thrive. By talking openly about their symptoms, they also helped reduce stigma and pushed for benefits for future generations.
The researchers, whose findings were published in Harvard Business Review, interviewed 64 peri- or postmenopausal middle-aged women in senior leadership positions — including CEOs, nonprofit executive directors and vice presidents across the U.S., Canada and the UK — about how menopause influenced their professional trajectories.
“For many women, symptoms of menopause started a quest for answers,” write authors Mallory Decker and Alicia Grandey. “Equipped with greater knowledge, they used their positions to battle ignorance and stigma alongside a band of peers, mentors and friends.”
Sarah Chavarria, CEO and President of Delta Dental Insurance Company in California, found this out firsthand when she raised the topic in a meeting with her board of directors in 2023. Chavarria was open about her experiences with menopause and helped create policies that would help other women.
The findings come as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Monday that it would remove the black box warning from hormone replacement products containing estrogen, which have been shown to be an effective treatment for menopause symptoms.
It’s a major step for women who are looking for additional treatment options. Since 2003, the warning described that hormone therapy could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, breast cancer and dementia.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary clarified that, in fact, hormones can reduce cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline, and can improve bone health in postmenopausal women.
“The long-term health benefits have been largely misunderstood,” said Makary, according to the New York Times. “Hormone replacement therapy may improve the health outcomes of women at a population level more than any other intervention, arguably, with the exception of antibiotics or vaccines.”
Now the labels will explain that there are long-term health benefits for women if they begin treatment within 10 years of the onset of menopause. The change will take effect in six months.
Where menopausal women have traditionally been overlooked by their bosses and forced to conceal their symptoms, many are now asking each other for advice, actively seeking out allies — including male colleagues — and joking with their teams about what they’re going through, according to the research.
One entrepreneur who was interviewed said menopause freed her from all the barriers women face. “I think you sort of get to the point where you just go, I’m sick of all that now,” she told the researchers. “You’ve just got to exist as you are.”