One of the things that most impressed me about the Victorian water sector when I joined VicWater back in 2019, was the strong commitment to gender equity and improving the representation of women in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Equity, diversity and inclusion has been a consistent focus area for VicWater's work with members over the past several years, with the development of two industry ED&I strategies and publication of annual ED&I performance reports. As highlighted in these reports, many water corporations have been involved in initiatives aimed at attracting more girls and women into STEM studies as a career pathway into the water industry. So I was very interested (and somewhat dismayed) to hear from Dr Morley Muse, keynote speaker at this week's 5th Annual Biosolids Symposium dinner, that only 15% of women with a STEM qualification go on to work in a STEM field.