It used to be that women on the senior management track would ask me what the big secret was to get on boards of public companies. Years later women still want to know. Apparently, it's not only still difficult for a woman to get on a board, but it's happening even less often.

The nonprofit research group, Catalyst, which has tracked the status of women on boards of the largest U.S. companies since 1993, says that in 2006 women held 14.6 percent of board seats at Fortune 500 companies--down from 14.7 percent in 2005. Women of color held 3.1 percent of all Fortune 500 board seats, down from 3.4 percent in 2005. And the number of companies with no women board directors increased from 53 in 2005 to 58 in 2006.

You'd think two factors would have had the opposite effect. One is the growing issue to have more board diversity. Even back in 1986, shareholders at Wal-Mart and Helen Walton, wife of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, were exerting growing pressure to appoint a woman to the company's 15-member board of directors, said a recent New York Times article. That's when Hillary Rodham Clinton began her six-year tenure on the board of Wal-Mart, the country's largest company.

The other issue is the increased accountability of a board of directors, as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring more corporate governance. Since this law took effect in 2002, CEO candidates--the natural candidates for these corporate board roles--have been turning down board jobs in droves, said a MIT Sloan Management Review article.

The article cites several studies that show a 30% decline from 2002 to 2006 in the number of Fortune 500 outside directorships held by CEOs. Another study found a 38% drop in new outside CEO directors in companies in the Standard & Poors 500-stock index. It's not surprising, the article says, because of the personal liability and professional embarrassment a board member can face if a company doesn't properly monitor internal systems.

So if not CEOs, who is getting tapped for these board openings? Not women, says, Cheryl Francis, in a column in Forbes.com. One reason may be because "women are even more scarcely represented among retired CEOs--the second most popular source of new board members--than among sitting CEOs."

Another group getting the roles is other senior managers such as CFOs and division presidents. The MIT article speculates that they're motivated to take the jobs because, "Experience as a director can help open new career paths and offer networking possibilities--possibly even leading to a CEO position"--the same reasons women tell me they want these roles.

I often hear senior executives say they don't know any qualified women to be on the board. Perhaps companies need to be--as Cheryl Francis suggests--more imaginative and flexible about recruiting women--"if they are serious about tapping this reservoir of talent. You can't rely solely on the people whom current board members know and recommend."

Sam Walton appeared relieved to have a woman on the board to deflect criticism, says The New York Times article. But there are plenty of good reasons to have more women on boards than just to quell the pressure from shareholders. Women are a dominant force in business and purchasing power, making up 83 percent of all consumer purchases says Marty Barletta in her book, Marketing To Women. Nearly 50% of equities are held by women and more than 50% of the educated work force is female, says Francis.

The value of a woman's perspective, talents and expertise is clear. To be asked to join a board is an honor more qualified women deserve and from which more companies would prosper.

Here are two sources to help you get yourself noticed:

• Board of Directors Network, whose mission is to increase the number of women in executive leadership and on corporate boards.
• Forte Foundation, which according to their Web site, is a consortium of major corporations and business schools whose mission is to "substantially increase the number of women business leaders."

© by Andrea Kay