Females have obtained more senior management positions and corporate board seats in many countries. However, this is less the case in much of Asia. In short, the road to boardrooms for females can turn out to be quite long, tortuous and full of dead-ends. Who is to blame for this – businesses or females themselves or even governments – is a moot question. Here we look at this in terms of: why have females on boards; the situation in Asia in global perspective; reasons for barriers and limits.