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There are as many female experts as men but they appear reticent to share their knowledge on TV.
The Expert Women campaign run by City University reckons about one quarter of experts interviewed on TV are women. Given that the Government estimates there are roughly the same number of female experts in the workforce as male, their target of up to 40 per cent female expert interviewees on TV seems modest.
It's tempting to explain the dearth of female experts in terms of sexism and institutional bias. And those things do exist although they are decreasing.
But as someone who makes a living from booking experts on TV, I am often puzzled by how challenging it can be to persuade women to appear. Many complain about the lack of female experts on the news. So I say to them: 'OK, so you're a chief financial officer; female finance experts are the most in demand for comments on this story, so do it.' Then...