OB
DEI
OMT
Mikaila Ortynsky
Telfer School of Management, U. of Ottawa, Canada
Alexandra Cook
U. of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alexander Zill
U. of Applied Sciences Mittweida, Germany
Tanja Reimer
Europa-U. Flensburg, Germany
Jasmin Joecks
Eberhard Karls U. Tübingen, Germany
Tanja Reimer
Europa-U. Flensburg, Germany
Jasmin Joecks
Eberhard Karls U. Tübingen, Germany
Mirjam Werner
Erasmus U. Rotterdam, Netherlands
Mikaila Ortynsky
Telfer School of Management, U. of Ottawa, Canada
Alyson Byrne
Memorial U. of Newfoundland, Canada
Anika Cloutier
Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie U., Canada
Erica Carleton
U. of Regina, Canada
Rachel Hahn
Purdue U., United States
The past few years have highlighted the necessity for management researchers to consider how bodily processes, specifically bodily processes unique to women, affect workers and workplaces (e.g., Bergman et al., 2023; Gabriel et al., 2022; Grandey, Gabriel & King, 2020). This presenter symposium on menstruation at work invites the Academy of Management community to think differently about people and their capabilities in organizations by focusing on an underrepresented but prevalent topic for organizational theory and practice. The menstruation (i.e., menstrual bleeding) and the menstrual cycle (i.e., 28-day recurrent cycle of sex hormones) is a topic fraught with shame and stigma, but it is embedded in organizational reality as a part of “experiences where work and nonwork blend (…) and [that] are brought directly into work” (Grandey et al., 2020, p. 22). Although menstruating people often try to mask their symptoms, passing as non-menstruating while they are at work (Sang, Remnant, Calvard & Myhill, 2021), those with menstrual problems cannot prevent negative aspects from entering the work domain (Motro, Ellis & Gabriel, 2019). The Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2024 theme “Innovating for the Future” invites members to examine the interplay of innovation, policy, and purpose as a lens for rethinking conventional ways of leading, managing, and organizing. For organizations to be dynamic and innovative, they are dependent on cognitive resources provided by employees. These individual resources are also naturally consumed by non-work-related tasks such as taking care of menstrual needs. In addition, cognitive resources and abilities fluctuate over the course of a woman's cycle. As such menstruation can consume resources to varying degrees by time and person (Motro et al., 2019). Following recent menstruation research (e.g., Grandey et al., 2020; Sang et al., 2021; Werner, Punzi & Tukenburg, 2023), we recognize menstruation as a distinctive issue inclusive of physical symptoms, stigma, shame, and social interactions, including those in the workplace. With this presenter symposium we aim to create insight about the connection between biological processes and specific problems regarding menstruation (e.g. endometriosis; Presentation 3) and behavior at work (e.g. motivation to lead and risk-taking behavior; Presentation 1 and 2). Building on this, we shed light on the contribution that organizations can make to establish better working conditions that take the female cycle into account (e.g. menstrual leave policies; Presentation 4). This symposium raises some the challenges menstruating people experience at work, what would help them feel more empowered in the workplace and what organizations can do to design and implement appropriate and effective measures that make a supportive workplace. Together with discussant, Dr. Mirjam Werner, this symposium aims to identify and review gaps in theory, policy, guidelines and practice that provide starting points for creating humane, powerful and innovative organizations and further research on the topic of menstruation and work.
Author: Mikaila Ortynsky – Telfer School of Management, U. of Ottawa
Author: Alyson Byrne – Memorial U. of Newfoundland
Author: Anika Cloutier – Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie U.
Author: Erica Carleton – U. of Regina
Author: Rachel Hahn – Purdue U.
Author: Alexandra Cook – U. of Amsterdam
Author: Alexander Zill – U. of Applied Sciences Mittweida
Author: Tanja Reimer – Europa-U. Flensburg
Author: Jasmin Joecks – Eberhard Karls U. Tübingen