Menopause in UCD
UCD stems from a commitment made in the UCD Gender Equality Action Plan 2020 2024 to develop guidance and supports for employees and people managers in relation to the menopause. In order to deliver the main objectives and create a policy and supportive documents, a dedicated Menopause Working Group was established. UCD launched a Menopause policy on 13 March 2023 alongside the supporting documentation for employees and managers. We have organised several workshops, informative sessions and run a Menopause at workplace survey. We were delighted to host a Menopause Conference for Third Level Sector on 13 March 2023.
The menopause is a natural time of ageing in a person’s life but for many, symptoms go well beyond those typically associated with this stage in life and can be very debilitating. The changing age of Ireland’s workforce means that there are many menopausal employees in the University. Research (undertaken across Ireland by the Menopause Hub) has shown that 60% of women will have moderate to severe symptoms, with 30% being severe. Irish data indicates that 45% of menopausal women have considered giving up work and 12% actually gave up work.
This topic is therefore an extremely important matter for the University in terms of providing support to a large proportion of employees in order to retain talent and ensure this cohort of employees feel valued by the University.
In order to deliver best practice, we partnered with the Menopause Hub who is Ireland’s First Dedicated Menopause Clinic that supports, educates and advocates for women across the island.
Menopause in the Workplace Survey
Menopause at Work UCD Survey and UCD Journey to Date
In order to support our equality, diversity, and inclusion planning processes in line with the Gender Equality Action Plan 2020 - 2024 and EDI Strategy 2021 - 2024, we were conducting a short survey developed by the Menopause Hub to obtain the views and insights of UCD employees.