as been pointed out, it is a pipeline problem. catalyst has looked at this for years. we started studying this more than a decade ago about what is the barrier in that pipeline and the pipeline is not a problem until you get to middle management and a little above middle management. and then there are, if you want to use a metaphor for a pipeline, there are blockages in that pipeline. and a clear one is the stereotypical bias that is built in to job descriptions and performance management systems whereby we look at competencies and we describe them in terms that are so gendered, so male so women aren t applying for some of those jobs? they aren t being considered. because when a job description says, we want somebody who aggressively drives sales, people look at a woman and say, she s too soft, she s not tough enough, she can t do it. oh, by the way, no one likes a