Why women directors are such a rare sight?

5 reasons
The first reason for why women are a rare sight as seen as film directors is children. Having children is seen as a reason why women dont become directors. Sarah Radclyffe had said that "when you've just had a child, you can go back to the production side of things relatively easily" but whereas directing "you are giving part of your inner self" and women can find that hard if you have a young child because that part of yourself is not for work its for your child.
Another reason is that the film industry is a very male dominated."There's alot of 'who you know' in terms of how you get promoted" (Beeban Kidron) and its very male dominated at every level of the career ladder. Woman have a hard time succedding because they do not only have to worry about their competition at work but they have a family. Men dont have that worry of looking after children but if there were to be an equal share of child rearing the women could get a better chance of climbing that ladder and being promoted.
Polly Leys had said once that women had the majority of the less visible jobs which means more supporting and production based jobs whereas the men had more creative roles of being either the writer or the director. The women have to conform into being the supportive one even at work and not only at home with a family.
Confidence and self belief is another issue into what could possibly be a reason into why there are not many women being seen as directors. Naomie Harris had said that being an actress "you can feel very aliented, playing the female lead in a male dominated cast and environment" and thats its very hard to "express yourself" and "feel that you will be heard in that kind of environment".