> The two female authors of this article share personal histories rife with egregious examples of gender bias in academic science and beyond. Born in 1950 and 1

> The two female authors of this article share personal histories rife with egregious examples of gender bias in academic science and beyond. Born in 1950 and 1960, respectively, they endured substantial sexism and were victims of cruelty during the earliest decades of their careers. Despite these experiences, today they share the belief—rooted in empirical data—that although the situation in academia was often deeply unfair to women in the past, it has dramatically improved over recent decades. The key question today is, in which domains of academic life has explicit sexism been addressed? And in which domains is it important to acknowledge continuing bias that demands attention and rectification lest we maintain academic systems that deter the full participation of women? > Just as there are negative consequences of not acknowledging bias, there are also costs of believing that sexism in academic science is pervasive when it is not—key among them that women will be discouraged from choosing academic careers in science, and resources will be wasted in combatting nonexistent bias claims. For this and many additional reasons, the two female authors of this article request that readers approach the topic with an open mind.