Lab Notes Blog

Introduction 

I've been thinking a lot about biology lately. Specifically, the progression of my career and that of my biology.

Recently it occurred to me that there's an interesting coincidence between when I as an engineer might typically gain enough experience/seniority to be eligible for higher-paying leadership positions, and when my own biology would evolve. Refer to Figure 1.

I’m lucky to have had several great mentors throughout my career. I realize now that there was a persistent gap in the conversations not just with mentors, but with other working women in my personal and professional life. It’s not surprising given the historical taboos of talking about menses or hormonal health, even privately.

A few disclosures before I dive further:

Navigating topics related to personal health requires care and respect for privacy, obviously. Please abide by the policies and laws governing your workplace. My goal is to raise awareness of knowledge we can use for our own self-advocacy and for connecting with allies.

Platinum Pivot is not endorsed by nor affiliated with any of the authors, creators, or resources mentioned.

The business case for understanding hormonal health in a career context

Here’s the thing: not every working adult will experience chronic illness, disability, pregnancy, parenthood, caregiving, a mental health condition, or neurodivergence – each of which has some degree of workplace protection or benefit in most countries. Thank goodness.

YET: Every single working adult menstruator will experience natural or induced/premature menopause, very likely during the years when we are (hopefully! finally!) earning the promotions and pay raises we’ve been hustling for. 

Hold on – this isn’t rocket science! How do I know so little about supporting my own biology during the most viable parts of my career?? 

It’s about damn time to get educated.

I’m no stranger to how women’s health in general was (is still!) underserved or blatantly dismissed by the medical establishment; in fact still living it myself. Then I learned how the landmark Women’s Health Initiative study misrepresented its findings yet remained the basis of menopause care for generations of women (Vogel, 2017, and Russel, 2017). 

umm what!!! 🤯🤯🤯

I’m also no stranger to the awkward struggles of managing menstruation at work (as secretly as possible!) in spaces at best unconcerned with my completely natural needs, and at worst hostile to them. So I've been increasingly curious how my own 'pause era will interact with my pursuit of meaningful and lucrative work, and why I almost never hear stories about how others in my workplaces navigated this phase...especially given (or because of??) the history of medical dismissal. 

The systems thinker in me is tripping over all sorts of occupational hazards lol. 

It also made me wonder what the emerging improvements in the science, health treatments and outcomes, awareness & normalization, and destigmatization of (peri)menopause might mean for people like me in the workplace, particularly at times in our careers when we're trying to level up – let alone reach parity.

This “perime-note” summarizes my explorations so far. I don't have all the answers. I am NOT a medical practitioner, but I AM a medical patient. I'm sharing my questions and the few promising resources I've stumbled upon in case it helps other working menstruators, 'pausers, and our workplace allies to feel a little more knowledgeable, ready to (self-) advocate, and ready to extend some grace. 

Especially to ourselves.

Q: My own doctors dismiss questions about perimenopause*, so where do I even begin learning about this?

*Oof, the struggle is real! 

I firmly believe menstruators and 'pausers should have access to knowledge about our own bodies. The systemic omission of and inadequate investment in this knowledge has not only disempowered us in the present, it causes literal harm now and in the future. This is why I’m turning to self-advocacy and doing my own research.

Here are some of the resources I've been turning to:

• The works of Dr. Mary Claire Haver. Her site has tons of free resources, including scripts for when your medical practitioners aren’t listening to you. I also recommend this ep of her new pod to get started on your own health empowerment and for the complicated history of the Womens' Health Initiative study (Pearson, 2025).

• The works of Maisie Hill. Her podcast unlocked multiple forms of my awareness, and her book Perimenopause Power is on my list.

• This article from Allara’s blog provides a digestible explanation of the history of and recent update to the US FDA’s (now former) warning labels on hormone replacement therapy products.

• This video about the menstrual cycle phases was super clear and fun (Amoeba Sisters, 2025).

• Did you know there are specialty hormonal & (peri)menopause telehealth platforms now?? For example, Allara and Midi both accept insurance.

Q: What does Lean In's Women in the Workplace report say about experiences from people in peri- or post-menopause?

First, I do recommend reading the whole report. The insights about manager and employee behaviors are especially relevant to aspiring allies & evolving empowerees (pages 18-21).

Turns out the 2024 report says nothing directly about these experiences or about age. In fact, it only generally refers to "younger" and "older" people in the report, such as on pages 33-34. (LeanIn.Org, 2024). There might be other data sources or reports to explore, but for now I hope Lean In continues the report next year. 

Q: What if my workplace doesn’t have an ERG aligned to (peri)menopause experiences? 

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) can sometimes be great for different identities and allies, but I get that not all workplaces are able to sponsor this niche. If you’re looking to connect with other menstruators, peri- or post-menopausers, or their allies, these are the resources I'm turning to:

• EqualEngineers hosts several communities including their Menopause Network https://equalengineers.com/networks/menopause/.

• The STEM the Flow campaign advocates for menstrual equity in science workplaces https://stemtheflow.com/.

I’m hunting for more!

Q: Slight tangent: any cool engineering research happening for women’s health equity?

Ermahgerd, so glad I asked! I recently stumbled upon two extra cool papers via IEEE Xplore: Menstrual Hygiene Management in Smart Cities (Bhatia and Parida, 2024), and Machine Learning-Enhanced Solutions for Mitigating PCOS/PCOD-Related Women's Health Disparities in Rural Areas (Patel, 2024).

Conclusion and calls to action

Today there are a growing number of resources for working menstruators and people entering (peri)menopause that can help us live and work better than every generation before us. This is good!

Not only is it important for menstruators and ‘pausers to understand our bodies and needs personally, it’s also an overlooked opportunity to create meaningful support for our professional aspirations during these life phases.

Here are some ideas for putting your emerging knowledge into practice:

🟢 Who is one trusted person you could invite into conversation about any of the resources above? Reach out for a virtual or real-life chat.

🟢 What’s one change that would better support your body’s needs at work? Who might be able to help? Invite them to be co-mentors/supporters with you. 

I hope this helps. It has for me already. 

Epilogue: more questions

My curiosity doesn’t stop here. Here are more questions I’d like to dig into.

• What workplace strategies, accommodations, and support have successful people in their 'pause eras turned to? What opportunities for more inclusive and humane working spaces do these create for everyone?

• I’ve noticed that while the professional organizations I belong to either have missions to empower women in my field or have dedicated group(s) for supporting women, I seldom hear anything about navigating professional life as menstruators or (peri) menopausers. Why is that, and what opportunities might we spark by starting the conversation?

• What kind of 'pause support is available to people who are trans, non-binary, or genderqueer? How might I be a better ally for these colleagues?

Stay platinum and keep learning 📖

References

1. Vogel, L. (2017). Trial overstated HRT risk for younger women. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 189(17), E648–E649. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1095421.
2. Russel, S. (2017, September 12). Big study finds no rise in death risk among women who took hormone therapy. Fred Hutch Cancer Center. https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2017/09/death-risk-menopausal-hormone-replacement.html.
3. Pearson, J. (2025, October 21). The Truth About Estrogen: What the Women’s Health Initiative Got Wrong with Dr. Avrum Bluming & Dr. Carol Tavris. The 'Pause Life by Dr. Mary Claire Haver. https://thepauselife.com/blogs/the-unpaused-podcast/the-truth-about-estrogen-what-the-womens-health-initiative-got-wrong-with-dr-avrum-bluming-dr-carol-tavris.
4. Amoeba Sisters. (2025, February 27). Menstrual Cycle Walkthrough: Phases & Hormonal Regulation. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h36poEtEbi4.
5. LeanIn.Org. (2024). Women in the Workplace 2024, 10th Anniversary Report. https://leanin.org/women-in-the-workplace.
6. Bhatia, N. and B. Parida. (2024). "Menstrual hygiene management in smart cities," 8th IET Smart Cities Symposium (SCS 2024), Hybrid Conference, Bahrain, 2024, pp. 517-521, https://doi.org/10.1049/icp.2025.0966.
7. Patel, D. et al. (2024). "Machine Learning-Enhanced Solutions for Mitigating PCOS/PCOD-Related Women's Health Disparities in Rural Areas: A Holistic Telemedicine System Design and Implementation," 2024 International Conference on Brain Computer Interface & Healthcare Technologies (iCon-BCIHT), Thiruvananthapuram, India, 2024, pp. 134-140, https://doi.org/10.1109/iCon-BCIHT63907.2024.10882249.