Abstract
This article examines gender differences in participation and communication behaviour at the German Congress of Geography 2019 in Kiel. The programme booklet and over 70 sessions with more than 200 lectures as well as over 800 discussion contributions were analysed for gender-specific differences using a standardised structured observation form. The results show significant gender differences both on the level of participation and on the level of communication behaviour: Lectures delivered by men achieved higher attendance figures than lectures by women due to gender-selective attendance behaviour of men; women were under-represented in the role of session chair; men tended to dominate the discussion rounds after the presentations, they took the floor more often and talked longer; the session chairs’ gender exercised a decisive influence on who participated in the discussions, there was a clear tendency towards gender homophily; in general, discussion activity was higher after presentations by women, because women then participated in the discussions significantly more often and for longer periods of time. In the second part of the paper, we put our findings in historical context. This reveals that gender inequality has decreased e.g. with regard to women’s conference participation, personnel structure and the number of women being appointed as full professors. On a structural level, positive gender dynamics are emerging within German-speaking geography. On the other hand, it becomes evident that especially at the level of communication at conferences, traditional gender-specific behaviours do persist. These behavioural patterns are obviously more enduring than the formal structures and positions.