Think there's a shortage of qualified female directors? You'd be wrong - CNET

When diversity proponents point to the low percentage of women in places like boardrooms, a common response is that qualified candidates are few and far between.

Take, for instance, a survey of CEOs conducted by theBoardList, which is a marketplace of sorts for connecting tech companies with qualified female directors. Only half felt there is enough female talent available, and it's estimated by research group Catalyst that women hold just a fifth of the board seats among S&P 500 companies.

To counter this perception, the organization on Thursday launched three new initiatives, including a feature called Assisted Search, which is essentially extra help from a talent executive in finding candidates and going through the placement process; theBoardList Index, which is quarterly data on the number of board seats filled by women; and the Pay it Forward Scholarship. Partnering with online survey tool Qualtrics, every time a woman is placed on the board of a company, theBoardList will give a scholarship to a girl from an underrepresented community.

The moves by theBoardList mark the latest attempt to address the issue of better female representation in the tech world, an issue that flared up last year amid Ellen Pao's sexual discrimination lawsuit against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, the harassment of female joualists and coders under the "Gamergate" controversy and the broader recognition that many of the major players aren't particularly diverse.

For the last year, theBoardList has not only been trying to address the situation, but lea about it. Its answer to the conce that there isn't enough talent: 1,200 qualified potential board members -- all women. Forty-two percent already have board experience, the others come with endorsements from C-level business leaders and investors.