Vicki Wilde, Senior Program Officer at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation guest blogs about the challenges and inequalities that continue to face women scientists. There is no shortage of literature, both academic and mass media, documenting the importance of women’s advancement in the sciences, including the agricultural sciences. Bringing more women into scientific careers serves to do more than symbolically close a gender gap. It brings a wider variety of experiences and views that can greatly benefit scientific research and development as well as society.