Maybe there’s not a qualified woman out there who’s willing to work under the conditions that the rest of the board works. The board itself is “optics” and it’s surprising that anyone who one would want to serve on it would want to be in such a powerless role.

It’s unfortunate that the term “diversity” has come to be associated with the need for women to be better represented in traditionally male preserves, and other ethnicities in traditionally white. There are indeed issues of equity to be addressed. But the core need for “diversity” on boards and in leadership more generally has less to do with gender and pigmentation and everything to do with perspective. Monochrome and monogendered bodies are far less suited to governance. And while that has always been true, at a time of rapid, exponential, change, it is risible that anyone could suggest anything other. Radical diversity of perspective is crucial to managing increasingly rapid change.

I’ve discussed this at more length here:
http://futureofbiz.org/2012/06/26/facebo ok-diversity-and-leadership-in-the-c21-c orporation/