Back to School / Women and Directing

Last night was my first "Producing Fundamentals" class through NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. From what I can tell, the class is going to be really engaging; an even mix of personal stories from our instructor and practical information. Our instructor Jamin O'Brien (Boynton Beach Bereavement Club, Lymelife, Handsome Harry) seems genuinely interested in us and in teaching us what he knows (or at least did a good job pretending!) which, based on his credits, is quite a bit. However the most interesting aspect of the class was its gender breakdown. In a class of about 16 people, only 1/4 were men. This seems to follow through to the actual industry. What is it about producing that attracts so many women? Why are there so many more female producers than directors or writers?
Yes, I realize there are a number of strong female voices out there: Kelly Reichardt, Jane Campion, and Kathryn Bigelow to name only a few. But this number doesn't even begin to compete with the legions of male directors all around the world who've forced their projects into being. And when one narrows the scope to include just Hollywood films, the number of female voices shrinks even more. In the history of the Academy Awards, only 3 female directors have ever been nominated for an Oscar, and none have won.
Perhaps many would-be female directors lack the confidence in their own vision or story to commence the behemoth task of finding supporters, time and money to see it through the pipeline. Being a director is about constantly making creative decisions that affect everything from budget, to start and wrap times, to lighting and design setups. The stress of not only having this whole production machine waiting for you to make a decision, but also having the artistic responsibility of making a film that will find critical and commercial success is a burden that may prove too heavy for most women to carry. Men seem to have an easier time throwing off the opinion of others and plowing through with their vision. Women tend to feel more responsible for their decisions. As a result, they take on supporting positions that allow them to shepherd others' work along without having to bear the brunt of the creative responsibility. This might be why it's easier to find female directors in the independent world. Here, the crews are smaller and there are no frantic production execs waiting for you to prove your worth. The failures tend to hit softer and are forgotten quicker.