Women’s Talk Marathon 2026 “Talking about what we do – showing that we are here.”

For the fifth time, the Women’s Lecture Marathon took place at CAU as part of International Women’s Day.  March 6, 2026, was CAU Women’s Day – 35 talks by women for everyone interested.

“Targeted and concentrated visibility has unfortunately become even more important again” (Participant)

Participation – since 1929 in the Duden, “being involved in something; taking part in an event” (Wiktionary)
Equality – “granting equal rights” (Wiktionary)

“Participation” and “Equality” are words related to women that, especially in the university context, prompt reflection: since 1909, women have been allowed to study in Germany; they are involved in the “studying” process. 117 years later, women are an integral part of universities, and in fields like Psychology or Biology, they are even in the majority. In Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics, however, it looks quite different: with a women’s share of 20%, women are involved “in the matter,” but few. Equality concerns the granting of equal rights, meaning that it’s not just on paper that women can do everything men can, but that real change happens. An important aspect of this is visibility.

This is the title of a lecture by Elif Sen. Elif reported that women are underrepresented in Wikipedia (see https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Red) and how difficult it is to change this. One reason is that the rules for creating Wikipedia articles about people sound good and sensible but pose a problem for women: fewer women mean less media attention, which in turn means fewer awards.

Showing what we do at the university, what we can do, what excites us – to be visible – is what the Women’s Talk Marathon is for. And to show that although we are all seen as women, we are also diverse and different – there is no single woman for whom everything can be decided. The topics ranged from very close to far:

From “The Visibility of Women in the City of Kiel”
and “A CAU Honor Roll: 1971 First Women’s Studies Course”
to “Auroras and Blackouts – What Sun Storms Mean for Us”

—from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences to the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, from women who have participated four times to first-time participants.

“United in our diversity.” (Participant)

The audience was also diverse: students, pupils, university members, and thanks to a call from NDR Schleswig-Holstein, also external visitors:
“The Women’s Lecture Marathon was an empowering event with exciting talks on various topics!” (Listener)
“I attended the Women’s Lecture Marathon because of the interdisciplinary program, which presents the diverse achievements of excellent women scientists at CAU.” (Listener)

Since most of the talks were broadcast via Zoom again this year, it was also possible for people who couldn’t attend in person to participate.
“I couldn’t come in person, and I was very surprised that during one talk, 30 people were online with me!” (Online listener)

At the end, we would like to give the floor to a female scientist at CAU:

“As a woman working in research, especially in a more technical and traditionally male-dominated field, I increasingly notice how much work women still have to do regarding the visibility of their (research) achievements. And because visibility is not just about being seen oneself, but also about being noticed, it was especially important for me to be physically present (although I also really appreciate the digital participation option via Zoom). Moreover, I believe that it’s good for all of us to occasionally look beyond our own horizons, and this format with its wide range of topics offers a wonderful opportunity for that. Even though I myself couldn’t participate in the entire event, I hope it will continue and attract even more audience in the coming years! I very much enjoyed the topics, the talks, and especially the really good speakers, which enriched me greatly – and the opportunity to converse with many women from very different scientific fields around the event is truly something you don’t experience every day.”

In conclusion, we would like to sincerely thank ACM-W for their generous support of our event. Their contribution not only played a key role in its successful execution, but also helped create an inspiring and supportive environment for all participants and attendees.