I used to think that one inevitable side effect of improving university workplaces would be the removal of some of the barriers to gender equality. But as I talked with more women at universities and as I read more research about bias, I came to realise that I had got it exactly backwards. It’s not that improving the quality of the university workplace generally will necessarily make it better for women. The truth is just the opposite: making universities better workplaces for women will improve institutional quality for everyone.