Appears to me the military and USMA is facing something which challenged the corporate world...
If women are roughly half of the population, greater than half of the college graduates, then why not 50% of the leaders?
In the tech field the top leaders (CEO's, COO's, Bus Unit leaders etc) tend to have CS or EE degrees, with 25-30 years of experience. And usually a MBA or similar. It's viewed as a requirement, for many good reasons.
So go back 25-30 years and look at the percent of women CS/EE graduates. It's a very low number. Then look at the percentage that stayed past 10-15 years. Lower yet. Those with MBA's even lower.
So by most measures, the current percentage of women in leadership roles in tech corporations is far higher than statistics would imply. And that is because there is a very active affirmative action type motion in place in most corporations. And yes, that implies lower bars, hand grooming, many things which some would consider to be unfair. But it's a reality.
But the only other way to change the % this year is via a time machine.
So if you desire to increase the percentage, you are going to have to change hiring patterns right out of school. Oh wait, Corporations already hire nearly any qualified female engineer. And even lower the bar some over the other applicants. Still not enough. So you have to increase the supply.
There are other factors impacting retention. Improved maternity, etc.
But when it's all said and done, there is a lower percentage of females willing to deal with engineering math and enter the college programs. Just like there is a lower percentage willing to deal with Army "stuff", much less USMA "stuff".
My DD is a perfect case in point. All indications are is that she would be as competitive as her brother for USMA Appointment. Zero desire. She loves USMA, the cadets. But has zero desire to live in that world or even in the Army world. And is making the same decision about career fields which involve three semesters of calc (engineering degrees) She's capable of doing field work or calc, just does not want to!!!
It is going to be very hard for USMA to change this aspect of human nature given the Army's mission and nature of work. It's not like they have not been working the issue for a while, you can already see the impact of things in USMA control. (Look at Reg/Brigade leadership stats vs cadet demographics as a percentage)
The comment from the officer in the PBS article made me laugh... if corporations or USMA went "gender blind" on admissions she would not be happy with the result.
To be clear, I'm not implying that USMA and the Army is doing everything right in this area. Nor that they should not try to address it. Just that it's not a new problem, and one that impacts many other fields. With few easy answers.