The Boardroom Is Still the Boys' Room

Maybe the men who dominate U.S. boardrooms could use those “binders full of women” Mitt Romney says he asked for a decade ago to seed his gubernatorial cabinet in Massachusetts. About 21 percent of new members named to the boards of companies on the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index last year were female, a decline of 9 percent over the past five years, according to executive recruiter Spencer Stuart. And women represent just 16 percent of all directors at companies in the index, barely above the 15 percent level of 2006, Spencer Stuart says.

There’s nearly as wide a gender gap when it comes to diagnosing the roots of the problem. A solid 45 percent of male directors say the reason that the number of women around the table has barely budged is a lack of qualified candidates. Only 18 percent of female board members agree, according to a survey released last month by recruiter Heidrick & Struggles, Harvard University, and the WomenCorporateDirectors organization.