Workplace Grief: Reproductive Loss and the Problem with Silence

In Episode 120, we explore a topic that is incredibly common, but rarely talked about at work: reproductive loss.

We’re joined by Dr. Katrina Brownell, Assistant Professor of Management at Virginia Tech, who uses an autoethnographic approach to examine her own experiences with pregnancy loss and what happens when organizations lack the language, policies, and support to acknowledge it.

Reproductive loss—including miscarriage, stillbirth, and other forms of pregnancy loss—affects a significant number of people. Yet in many workplaces, silence is the default response. We talk about how silence at work doesn’t mean nothing is happening. It often means employees are carrying more than we can see.

This episode challenges organizations to rethink how they approach grief, privacy, and support, and whether current workplace norms are truly serving employees in their most difficult moments.

You can find Dr. Brownell here: https://management.pamplin.vt.edu/faculty/directory/brownell-katrina.html

You can find her paper here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gwao.70158