Marleen Pauls (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Centre for Language, Discourse & Communication at King’s College London.

She holds an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Bonn, Germany and completed her BA in English and Education at the University of Cologne, Germany, where she also worked as a research and administrative assistant.

PhD research

Thesis title: Making sense of the menopause in daily life

Menopause is a time in which a person’s menstrual periods stop due to changing hormone levels. While it has historically been subject to stigmatisation, recently the public discourse in the UK seems to be experiencing a drive for menopause awareness. Existing research highlights the various factors that can impact lived experiences, from physical and mental symptoms to aspects such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity and daily experiences in the workplace. By examining how participants speak about and make sense of their lived experiences, this study centres the voices of those going through the menopause. It acknowledges the complexity of the menopause and considers it against the backdrop of the diversity of contexts in which the participants are situated.

Principal supervisor: Dr Chris Tang.

Secondary supervisor: Dr Olivia Knapton

For more information see Marleen's PURE profile.

Call for participants

Marleen is currently looking for participants to take part in her PhD research. Marleen would like to hear from people who are experiencing menopause and share how this experience has impacted them.

You can find the full advert with details on the study, what will be required of you and who is eligible here.