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L.M. Ryan 23321.4 Gender issuesI’ve thought a lot over the years about the issue of gender in our field of statistics.During my almost thirty years in US academia, I was never particularlyconscious of experiencing any obvious bias or discrimination because I was awoman. I was even beginning to think that the days were over where specialefforts were still needed to encourage and support women in science. In fact,IevenfeltslightlyguiltywhenIreceivedtheCOPSSawardthatrecognizesElizabeth L. Scott’s lifelong efforts in the furtherance of the careers of women.Since returning to Australia in early 2009, however, my thinking has changedabit.I’vefoundtheresearchenvironmentheremuchhardertonavigatethanin the US and my confidence has suffered as a result. At a meeting of theAustralian Academy of Science earlier this year, I had something of a lightbulbmoment talking with Terry Speed and several others who assured methat the problem wasn’t just me, but rather I was experiencing the impact ofworking in an environment that was inherently more difficult for women thanfor men. A telling symptom of this was that none of the 20 new fellows electedto the Australian Academy of Science in 2013 were women! While this situationwas something of an embarrassment to the Academy, it did provide animportant opportunity for collective self reflection and dialogue on the issueof gender diversity in Australian science. I realized that I was struggling withsome of the same challenges that I had worked so hard years earlier to helpmy students overcome. Because there were fewer successful academic womenin Australia, I felt more isolated. Also, because the guidelines for assessingsuccess reflected a more male perspective, I was not measuring up so well. Forexample, because of some family responsibilities, I was generally reluctant toaccept many invitations to speak at international conferences. However, suchactivities were seen as very important when it came to evidence of track recordfor grant applications. Finally, my interests didn’t quite align. In the US, I hadbeen very fortunate to spend my career in an environment that embraced interdisciplinaryresearch and where the model of a biostatistician combiningcollaborative and methodological research was not only well understood, butseen as an ideal. In Australia, the model was a more traditional one of a successful,independent academic heading up a team of students, postdocs andjunior staff. For me, this model just didn’t fit. For all these reasons, it madesense that I was having some difficulty in finding my place within the Australianacademic environment. But instead of seeing this bigger picture, I waspersonalizing it and starting to believe that I simply didn’t have the talent tosucceed. I see now that I have an opportunity to put into practice some of theadvice I used to give my students about believing in myself, keeping in mindthe bigger picture and understanding that by persevering, I can help changethe system. My experience also underscores why having a diverse workforcehelps the whole system to be healthier and more effective. A diverse work-