Wed, Oct. 28, 2026, Dr. Olaf Gaus: Health and Gender in the Digital Age —eHealth, Algorithms, and the Question: For Whom Does Digital Medicine Work? (Siegen)
Wed, Nov. 25, 2026, Prof. Dr. Christoph Strünck: Gender in Health Policy: A Marginal Issue or Highly Relevant? (Siegen)
Wed, Dec. 16, 2026, Dr. Sarah Eitze: Gender-Sensitive Medicine: What We Know and How We Talk About It. (Erfurt)
Wed, Jan. 27, 2027, Dr. Marcella Fassio: When Childbirth Becomes a Crisis: Literary Depictions of the Postpartum Period & Mental Health. (Halle)
A collaboration between ZiGS (Center for Interdisciplinary Health Research) and Gestu_S (Gender Studies Siegen)
Venue: Room US-C 102 in the Unteres Schloss Lecture Hall Center | Unteres Schloss 3 | 57072 Siegen
Olaf Gaus, Health and Gender in the Digital Age – eHealth, Algorithms, and the Question: Who Benefits from Digital Medicine?
Algorithms, apps, and smart wearables are supposed to make medicine more precise, personalized, and accessible. But for whom does digital medicine actually work? The lecture demonstrates that health is neither biologically nor socially gender-neutral—and that these differences are embedded in digital applications: in diagnostic algorithms that are less reliable in identifying conditions in women, in sensors calibrated for specific body types, and in training data that has long primarily reflected men.
By examining three gaps—data, access, and policy—the talk analyzes how eHealth exacerbates existing inequalities, such as through the digital gender gap, varying levels of digital health literacy, or the lack of guidelines in the EU AI Act. At the same time, the presentation highlights examples where gender-sensitive design is already succeeding—from cardiovascular risk assessment to femtech to digital mental health services—and introduces a five-level model for how digital medicine can work for everyone.
Sarah Eitze, Gender-Sensitive Medicine: What We Know and How We Talk About It.
Why do women and men develop certain diseases differently? Why are certain symptoms detected later in women—and why aren’t medications and medical guidelines always researched equally for all genders? Gender plays a role in medicine in many areas: from biological mechanisms to symptoms, diagnostics, and therapy, all the way to risk perception and health behaviors. At the same time, “gender” has long been not only a scientific category but also the subject of social and political debates.
This lecture examines the development of gender-sensitive medicine and, using examples from various medical specialties, explains in accessible terms what research currently knows about gender-specific differences—and where gaps in the evidence still exist. As a health psychologist, I pay particular attention to the question of how scientific findings on gender can be communicated in a way that is both understandable and nuanced.
Marcella Fassio, When Childbirth Becomes a Crisis: Literary Depictions of the Postpartum Period & Mental Health.
The birth of a child is often framed by society as a moment of happiness. But what if the time that follows is marked by mental exhaustion, anxiety, and alienation? This lecture explores how literature addresses the often-taboo experience of the postpartum period and its mental health crises. The focus here is on three novels separated by more than a century: Helene Böhlau’s *Halbtier!* (1899), Gabriele Reuter’s *Ellen von der Weiden* (1900), and Olga Ravn’s *My Work* (Danish: *Mit arbejde*, 2020). Around 1900, Böhlau and Reuter wrote in opposition to a bourgeois image of women that confined them to their bodies, their role as wives, and selfless motherhood. Ravn explores, in a fragmentary, autobiographical form, how motherhood, writing, and emotional crisis intertwine. How do these texts convey feelings of being overwhelmed and a loss of identity? What language do they find to express a suffering long considered unspeakable? And what does this comparison reveal about the change and persistence of societal images of motherhood?
Christoph Strünck, Gender in Health Policy: A Marginal Issue or of High Relevance?
Gender-sensitive medicine is gaining importance: Different risk factors, different clinical presentations, and differing health behaviors among men and women require that research and care better adapt to these differences. But what is the situation within the institutions? Medicine is male-dominated (in its leadership roles), while nursing is female-dominated. The fact that we in Germany still tend to have a “health care policy” (Christian von Ferber) rather than a “health policy” may also be related to a male-dominated perspective on high-performance medicine. On the other hand, the feminization of medicine has led to new care models, such as medical care centers, becoming increasingly popular. What, then, is the relevance of gender issues to health policy decisions? What can we learn about gender relations from the marginal role of prevention and health promotion, as well as from the differing positions of health professions? This lecture will attempt to address these questions in the form of theses and present empirical assessments for discussion.
