Improving Menstrual Health at Work
The two International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) of the Fritz Haber Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development jointly organized an eye-opening workshop called “Breaking the Cycle: Embracing Menstrual Health in the Workplace”. The workshop provided valuable suggestions for improving working conditions for menstruating persons.
Although it is a natural part of life, nowadays hardly anyone talks about menstrual health in the workplace. But the numbers alone show that we should do it: One in ten women has missed work due to menstrual discomfort. Yet, studies show that better cycle awareness can improve productivity, reduce absence rates by up to 20%, and foster a more inclusive and supportive working environments. Only recently, employers and employees have become increasingly aware that menstrual cycles affect well-being, workplace culture, and even career development.
With this workshop, the two Max Planck Institutes have taken up this topic and are thus setting an example for greater inclusivity in the workplace. The “Breaking the Cycle: Embracing Menstrual Health in the Workplace” workshop took place on September 30 in the Large Conference Room at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. The organization team of both institutes’ IMPRS and gender equality offices was able to engage the renowned political scientist and menopause coach Dr. Jennifer Chan de Avila for the workshop, which brought the important topic of menstruation at work onto the institutes' agenda for the first time. The workshop aimed to raise awareness, improve communication on the subject, and ultimately empower institute members to develop appropriate measures for the well-being of everyone in the workplace.
In the keynote lecture on “Menstrual Health and Cycle Awareness at Work”, Dr. Chan de Avila introduced the audience into the topic of the menstrual cycle as a workplace issue, pointing on its implications for working life. The lecture was followed by a lively Q&A session and a discussion with the audience. It was attended by 37 persons, more than a tenth of them men.
The second part of the workshop was all about communicating menstrual health at work. The handling and open discussion of menstruation, which is still associated with many prejudices and also with shame, can be difficult in a professional environment. The communication workshop was intended to encourage all participants to be more open about the topic of menstrual health and to call it by its name. Dr. Chan de Avila provided the participants with helpful tips for a respectful dialogue.
The afternoon workshop, “A Safe Place to Talk,” was reserved for a discussion among women. Eleven women from both institutes accepted the invitation to talk and discuss their personal experiences. They used the space for solidarity and mutual learning to ultimately develop joint support strategies for improving menstrual health and well-being in the workplace.
We are pleased to have created room for the important topic of menstrual health at work with this workshop program, thereby drawing more attention to the issue. Now it is up to us all at the institute to take the ideas from the workshop into our everyday lives and work together to improve working conditions for all of us. We look forward to more!
