All the good women have already been snapped up.

Most women don't want the hassle or pressure of sitting on the board.

Welcome to Business Daily. I'm Vivienne Nunes.

There aren't that many women with the right credentials and depth of experience to sit on the board.

The issues covered are extremely complex.

Shareholders just aren't interested in the makeup of the board. So, why should we be?

No, not lines in a bad comedy sketch, but actual reasons given by some of the bosses of Britain's biggest 350 companies

for why there's still a diversity problem on boards. The study was commissioned last year by

the then business minister who described the comments as painful and patronising. In today's

programme, we'll be exploring the thorny issue of under-representation of women in the modern boardroom.

We'll be hearing from two women at the top of their industries who are happy to share their cheat sheets when it comes to breaking through.

Again and again, you find yourself in the situation where, is it me that has to say something?

Is it always me that has to say something every time?

I've reached the conclusion, actually, that the answer is probably yes.

And we'll hear how women can help themselves.

You don't just have to build a professional network.

You have to maintain it and you have to utilise it.

The literature shows that women are very much worse at all of these things than men.

Business Daily from the BBC.

In my 20s, I worked in communications, in investor relations. Instead of being somebody in a company

talking to financial institutions, I wanted to be in a financial institution.

Heather McGregor is the dean of a business school and an experienced board member and company owner.

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