This is a subject close to my heart. So apologies if I go off on a tangent.
I have no idea who is male or female on this thread, apologies, well except a couple obviously, Rick and Arthur as whilst the name may suggest it, I have actually met him so I can be fairly confident of the genders there.
I have done a lot of research into gender diversity in engineering. I know not quite photography but I think some of the challenges are aligned.
Anyhow one of the reasons, apart from unconscious bias (test your own
here), the need to be part of a group and a lack of role models, is confidence.
Whilst there are more similarities between men and women then there are differences, one aspect that has stood out is that women lack confidence in areas they feel they are not represented equally in. Where as men tend to have a natural feel of I can do this, I've got this, I am excellent at this, women tend to have an attitude of am I good enough, is my best acceptable, I've got to do more to be accepted.
One area this has been proven is in Maths at high school, if you ask boys how good they are they will in general be confident that they are very good. Girls on the other hand will be less confident in their abilities yet will in general get better exam scores. Add this to the fact that gender stereotypes are ingrained by the age of 10 (more
here), you will see why better achievement in STEM at school does not translate to more women in engineering.
How does this relate to women in photography? Well I would suggest that whilst a man may revel in the glory of being an ambassador for a brand a women may not feel confident enough to have their abilities critiqued by the masses such a position would attract.
Now I don't know that photography is mans world, it is not something I have really thought about. I know a lot of women photographers but they tend to be in the area of babies, pregnancy and family photography. When you look at landscapes, I see more men, as well as aviation (that is male dominated to the extreme but you would expect that going back to the engineering) and automotive. But if I think about well known photographers, and to be honest I don't really follow famous photographers, apart from Anne Geddes when I think of women photographers I am hard pressed (and again she is in the world of babies and kids), but that may be me not really following any.
Whatever the industry a lack of role models is a problem. It is becoming a problem in teaching, there are not enough men, it is a problem in nursing, again not enough men, in engineering and STEM. Gender diversity is important because we all have a different point of view and we need them to solve the problems of the world. (wow that was a bit deep) But you catch my drift. Balance is important and whilst I never in a million years expect there to be 50/50 in engineering it is important that everyone feels comfortable doing any job.
Thanks for reading.