Women in STEMM Australia (WiSA) is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2014, that is widely recognised nationally and internationally as a leading advocacy organisation in Australia for women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM). Our key purpose is to connect, empower, and advocate for women and girls in STEMM to achieve equality in the Australian workplace. We consider women in STEMM to be those with STEMM qualifications or experience working in and/or enabling STEMM in industry, research, education, and government sectors.
Women of menopause age are the fastest-growing workforce demographic – by 2030, 25% of the female population will be menopausal. Symptoms can result in women leaving the workforce early and not seeking promotion. Women leaving work prematurely due to the effects of menopause costs Australian companies more than $10 billion a year. With a STEM skills shortage, the retention of experienced and senior staff should be as important as the attraction of girls and women to STEM careers.
Women in STEMM Australia welcomes this opportunity to provide a submission to the Issues related to menopause and perimenopause government inquiry. The findings and recommendations presented here are a compilation of the responses received to our online survey, which had 182 respondents from 96 different organisations spanning government, research organisations and industry.
We have aggregated our respondents’ data to protect their privacy and provided a summary of their survey responses including recommendations.
