Apple named its latest device, iPad. Ofcourse! this shows a little oversight from their team in coming up with the name. But I truly believe this is NOT why we need women executives in Apple’s team. We need more women executives – AGREED. But naming a device “iPad” has been blown out of proportion – what about HELIPAD, NOTEPAD – are all these names reminder of female hygiene – I don’t think SO.

In Business Week, Vivek Wadhwa argues more women are needed in the executive suite. Wadhwa provides a grim snapshot of women in the top echelons of the technology and financial sectors:

“Apple isn’t the only company with a male-dominated executive team. No woman has ever been CEO of a Wall Street firm. Women were primary owners of only 19% of the 237,843 firms founded in 2004, according to the Kauffman Foundation’s analysis of Dun & Bradstreet data. And only 3% of tech firms were founded by women in that year.”

“Given all the similarities in background and motivation for men and women entrepreneurs-and the fact that women now outnumber men in universities-we remain perplexed by the dearth of female startup executives.”

A societal failure

Wadhwa explains that the root of the issue is societal expectations of women:

“Evidence suggests that this does not reflect a failure on the part of women but rather a societal failure. Consider the contrast with India, a country that is in many respects more conservative than the U.S. It might therefore be expected to be even less amenable to women in leadership. Yet there, women are rapidly rising through the top ranks of the business community.”

“HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Fidelity International in India are run by women. So is the country’s second-biggest bank, Icici Bank, and its third-largest, Axis Bank. Women head investment banking operations at Kotak Mahindra and JPMorgan Chase and the equities division of Icici. Half of the deputy governors at the Reserve Bank of India are women.”

The article explains that an entrenched boys club feel and spirit in the industry – something that is prevalent in America but not quite as rigid in the emerging financial services market in India – may contribute to this.

So, are we ready as a society to reject stereotypes of working mothers, address the concern of leadership for women and accept a more balanced lifestyle – not engaged in happy hours and golf games?