Table 1.

Overview of Key Themes.

Theme	Description	Indicative Quotations
Menopause as a slippery inequality	Inability to pinpoint the focus of discriminatory behavior (menopause, age, health or gender)	Although at an age where menopause could be expected to be disruptive, this is not my current experience. However, I am always concerned about others’ perceptions that menopause/age may be the cause of any fatigue or frustration or other behaviors I display, when in fact I would put these down to other factors unrelated to age (HE462) Although I am a passionate, dedicated, vocal workers, my male colleagues could possibly think I was a menopausal middle-aged woman and disregard my concerns (HE303)
	Menopausal transition at work experienced in combination with other identifying characteristics such as health, gender or age	I am unsure which aspects of my health are related to menopause now (HE352) No, I don’t believe menopause has any effect on any aspect of my work. I often feel that some of the symptoms of menopause for me may be overtaken by the aspects of self-management that I have to do for my diabetes etc. (HE325)
Laboring through menopause	Given roles that require high emotional labor (that can exacerbate menopausal symptoms) but are not valued institutionally	The older nurses ended up with difficult patient allocations (HC623) Menopause itself is not a problem, but being over 50, female and an academic means that you are expected to take over a lot of administration. I feel like one of the old chooks who keep the place running, while younger people are given real opportunities, and much more support. The perceived value of these admin duties, of course, is close to zero. Has anyone ever got sabbatical because they put out fires with students? (HE435)
	Lack of either flexibility to move up (development opportunities or promotion) or equitable moves to part-time hours	It does influence perceptions of my ability and my sense of having a career trajectory. I think the older a woman is, the less likely she is to be noticed and valued in an academic workplace (HE730) Just because you may work only 2 days a week doesn’t mean you are to be allocated the heaviest workload on both shifts (HC1062)
Decentering the self: Menopausal inequality through the ethos of service	Structural aspects of work create or exacerbate menopausal inequality	Night shift is a trigger for my hot flushes and exhaustion. Takes me several days post nights to readjust to day shifts again. Often rostered to do 3 nights then 1 day off (spent sleeping after last night) and back again onto days. (HC69) Menopause has a huge impact on my work. The discomfort and embarrassment I feel having hot flushes is awful. I work in an unairconditioned office and this makes coping with my hot flushes even harder (HE126)
	Service level expectations override bodily experiences of employee	With the ever-decreasing standards and consumerization of education, I find the side effects of menopause simply make it more difficult to cope with the pressure of having to pass students and put up with their poor commitment and attitudes. However, I am not suffering as much as other women at present, therefore, I am able to have a normal working life as a lecturer. The biggest problem currently is not health but age. As an older person, I have lost any career prospects and cannot get any other type of work or positions in education (HE416) I don’t know when and if I will get another period but I did once when we had to wait 3 1/2 h for an ambulance. It was lucky I was wearing dark clothing. If I had been wearing light colored clothing I would have had to tell my male colleague I needed to leave. I guess there needs to be some sort of safety net for a staff member to be able to leave (HC1014)