Carol Atkinson

Verified

Carol verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

Learn more

Verified

Carol verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

Learn more

• PhD
• Professor of HRM at Manchester Metropolitan University

Abstract Background Women globally spend a significant portion of their lives experiencing perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms, which can severely affect their quality of life. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has proven effective in alleviating symptoms such as hot flushes, sleep disturbances, and mood disorders. However, disparities in access...

Menopause, whether natural (ie, the permanent cessation of an individuals's menstrual cycle for at least 12 consecutive months, without any other obvious cause), surgical, or induced by medical treatments, is characterised by the permanent cessation of menstruation. Menopause affects all those assigned female at birth, hereafter referred to as “wom...

This study explores variations in pay for adult social care workers, who deliver care to vulnerable people in their own homes, residential and nursing care homes, or supported accommodation in England. It explores how: pay is affected by local conditions, such as deprivation, and local authority processes for buying care pay variations affect wor...

Background Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) occurs when one or more pelvic organs (uterus, bowel, bladder or top of the vagina) descend from their normal position and bulge into the vagina. Symptoms include pelvic discomfort, fullness, and changes in bladder or bowel function. Treatment ranges from conservative approaches to surgery, depending on sympto...

Objective: To identify the mental health implications among perimenopausal, menopausal, and post-menopausal women undergoing natural, surgical, or medical menopause in Sri Lanka. Design: A mixed-methods study was designed and used. Methods: The study secured ethics approval prior to commence the recruitment. This interim evaluation included 38 S...

Background: Menopause is the natural biological process marking the end of a woman's reproductive years. Common symptoms include hot flushes, night sweats, mood changes, and sleep disturbances. Menopause is diagnosed after 12 consecutive months without a period. While it’s a normal stage of life, the severity of symptoms can vary widely among women...

Objective: To assess the mental health implications among peri- menopausal, menopausal, or post-menopausal women who were undergoing natural, surgical, or medical menopause in Malaysia. Design: A mixed-methods study was designed and conducted in Malaysia following Ethics committee approval. Methods: This interim analysis involved 50 women, aged 18–...

Objective: To assess the mental health implications among per- imenopausal, menopausal, or post-menopausal women. Design: A mixed-methods study was designed and conducted in Nigeria following Ethics committee approval. Methods: This interim analysis encompasses 40 participants, including all women aged 18–90 living in Nigeria who pro- vided inform...

Objective: This study aims to determine the mental health im- pact and workforce issues of perimenopausal, menopausal, or post-menopausal women and trans men who have had natural, surgical, or medical menopause. Design: A mixed-methods study was conducted in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland following Ethics commit- tee and Health Resea...

Menopause marks the end of the menstruation period which can incur naturally or due to surgery where the ovaries or the uterus is removed, or the use of other treatments like chemotherapy. Menopause elicits both physiological and psychological changes such as joint or pelvic pain, headaches or migraine, cognitive function and mental health problems...

Background: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is a treatment for menopausal conditions. Studies showing benefits of HRT in preventing chronic diseases lead to development of clinical guidelines by the American College of Physicians. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of HRT treatments across cardiometabolic measures including Triglycerides...

Offering theoretical frameworks from experts as well as practical examples to support women transitioning through menopause in the workplace, this is a go-to reference for academics and policy makers working in the field.

Purpose: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), an FDA-approved treatment for menopausal conditions was found to be associated with increased risk of endometrial cancer and reduced oestrogen. Studies showing benefits of HRT in preventing chronic diseases lead to development of clinical guidelines by American College of Physicians. This study aims to as...

Purpose While the potential for HR practices (HRPs) to improve organisational performance is well-established, the mechanisms by which this occurs are complex. Individual HRPs may affect organisational performance either by mutual gains (improving both organisational performance and employee well-being) or by conflicting outcomes (organisational pe...

In this chapter we present findings from a project that offered HR support to small firms adopting the discourse of strategic human resource management (SHRM), which posits that progressive HR practice can improve firm performance. We explore how HR support can address both HR content and process, offering advice to owner-managers in the absence of...

The focus of much strategic human resource management (SHRM) research has been on large firms and there are questions as to the applicability of the existing SHRM models in small firms that have different modes of operation, particularly where owner managers dominate and human resource (HR) specialists are largely absent. There is nevertheless grow...

Purpose - China’s controversial one-child policy has been blamed for creating an aging population, a generation of employees without siblings and a 4-2-1 family structure that places eldercare responsibility, primarily, on women. Current understanding of how this affects contemporary employees’ work-life interface is lacking. This study examined th...

Purpose China's controversial one-child policy has been blamed for creating an ageing population, a generation of employees without siblings and a 4-2-1 family structure that places eldercare responsibility, primarily on women. Current understanding of how this affects contemporary employees' work–life interface is lacking. This study examined the...

This article contributes to the growing body of knowledge about gendered ageing at work through an examination of the embodied experiences of women undergoing menopause transition in the UK police service. Drawing on 1197 survey responses, providing both quantitative and qualitative data gathered across three police forces in 2017–18, the findings...

This article explores the characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that seek external human resource (HR) support and the circumstances in which they do so, drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and recent growth theories. Original analysis of UK Longitudinal Small Business Survey data indicates that few SMEs seek...

This article examines the career histories of the first generation of UK women to enter professional employment in the 1970s and 1980s in comparatively large numbers. In so doing, it contributes to the sparse literature on older women’s working life histories. Presenting empirical research on women’s experiences in the legal and HR sectors, it reve...

This paper offers two key arguments. The first is that HRM scholars and HR practitioners need to pay a good deal more attention to the bi‐directional relationship between menopause and the workplace—how menopausal symptoms can affect women's experience of work and how work can exacerbate a woman's symptoms. We outline the social responsibility, dem...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the marketization of domiciliary care, its consequences for employment practice, specifically fragmented time, and the implications for care quality. Design/methodology/approach Focus groups and face-to-face or telephone interviews were conducted with care commissioners, service providers and care wo...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of psychological contracts of international business travellers (IBTs), a new form of expatriate that has arisen from the growing need for alternative forms of internationally mobile talent. The research is conducted in Belgium, a country recognised as a global hub in which international as...

This technical report examines adult social care provision within Greater Manchester (GM). It informs the Low Productivity and Low Pay Research Commission report that supports GM’s independent Prosperity Review.

In this article, we explore workforce policy and its potential to improve care quality in English long-term elder care. Using large, secondary sector datasets, we analyze relationships between care quality and the skill development practices prescribed by workforce policy, care quality, and a wider set of employment practices. We demonstrate that t...

Existing high performance work system (HPWS) research has rarely considered cultural influences. This study investigates the relationships between guanxi, HPWS and employee attitudes in China. A data set consisting of 226 employees in a Chinese state-owned enterprise in the railway sector was used to test the hypotheses. Using structural equation m...

In this article, we explore the dynamic, indirect effects of employment regulation through a qualitative study of three medium-sized enterprises and their ongoing, everyday employment relationships. We analyse how employment regulation is enacted through employment relationships and how its effects are negotiated by owner-managers and employees. Wh...

In this article, we examine line manager prioritisation of HR roles and the consequences for employee commitment in a health-care setting. Our analysis is based on a quantitative, multi-actor study (509 employees and 67 line managers) in four Dutch hospitals. Using sense-giving as a theoretical lens, we demonstrate that, in addition to the effects...

This article presents a powerful account of one late-career woman’s lived experiences. Little is known about women who continue professional careers into their 50s and beyond. Here insights are offered into her aspirations and expectations, as she reflects upon a career fragmented by gendered caring responsibilities and the implications of ageism a...

This article explores flexible working arrangements (FWAs) for older workers in smaller UK firms. We address three questions: how far older workers need and value FWAs, the type of FWAs they need, and whether smaller firms can offer these FWAs. We draw on 46 semi-structured interviews from six smaller case study firms to present a qualitative explo...

In this article, we consider care worker (CW) responses to enacted HR practices and CW attitudes in adult social care (ASC) in England. Our findings derive from a project that examined HR practices and comprised interviews with 18 managers and 58 CWs. We argue that both HR practice and employee attitudes are more robust than other research in this...

There are inherent tensions between government policy on adult social care work in England and the practice of that care work. This paper locates these tensions within the masculine model of professionalization contained in English adult social care policy and its interpretation by a largely female workforce. We situate our analysis within critical...

Purpose This paper aims to explore the influence of flexible working on employee happiness and attitude, and the role of this within a high performance work system (HPWS). Design/methodology/approach A case study of flexible working within an NHS Acute Trust is presented. A qualitative study is undertaken based on 43 employee interviews across a r...

In this article we present empirical data from a research study investigating the implementation of the flexible working policies that emanate from the improving working lives standard in a National Health Service Trust in the UK. We argue that gender is accorded insufficient focus in the literature, considering the barriers that create a take-up g...

It is argued here that more sophisticated frameworks of analysis than currently exist are required to support deeper understanding of small firm employment relationships. A psychological contract framework is adopted, presenting data on three small firm case studies and contrasting this with existing perspectives on small firm employment relationsh...

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to present research into the employment relationship in small firms and to examine its link to high performance. A psychological contract framework is adopted, it being argued that this supports a more nuanced analysis than existing perspectives on the small firm employment relationship which are limited and do n...

Purpose This paper aims to contribute empirical data to the under‐researched relationship between trust and the psychological contract. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach is used carrying out 41 interviews in three case study firms, adopting a critical incident technique (CIT). Findings Trust is present in all psychological contrac...

Purpose This paper sets out to investigate the effect of position in the organisational hierarchy on an employee's psychological contract. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a statistical analysis of secondary data taken from the Working in Britain 2000 (WIB) dataset, an ESRC/CIPD funded study, to investigate the perspectives on the c...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate employee perceptions of the flexibility they utilize or have available to them in an NHS Trust and relate these perceptions to the concept of control. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a constructivist approach and uses semi‐structured interviews, allowing employees, in their own way,...

The objective of this paper is to explore the impact of work life integration (wli) policies on performance utilising the lens of potential mediating variables or personal states (for example motivation). Such variables have been identified as linking the application of HR policies with internal and external performance outcomes (see, for example,...

Full-text of this article is not available in this e-prints service. This paper is from the CIPD's Professional Standards Conference held on 27-29 June at Keele University. Informal flexibility appears to generate a reciprocal effort from employees, who are prepared to be flexible in return and go beyond their contract. We were asked by an NHS trus...

Full-text of this article is not available in this e-prints service. This article was originally published following peer-review in Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, published by and copyright Emerald. Reports findings from an empirical investigation into the nature of the employment relationship in small to medium-sized enterpr...

Although previous studies of human resourcemanagement (HRM) techniques have focused on large companies, HRM ideas andpractices may be used to help smaller companies achieve competitiveadvantage.Case studies of four United Kingdom companies employing fewerthan fifty people are used to illustrate managerial and employee experiences ofpeople managemen...

This study was carried out in a major UK retail bank over a seven-year period. The initial survey in 1993 revealed the lack of a strategic approach to career management and a negative psychological contract. The follow-up survey was carried out in March 2000. The research findings reveal a failure by management both to provide the tools necessary f...