Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's recent comments regarding how women can advance their careers in technology set off a wave of soul-searching not just within his own company but across the high-tech industry.

To be fair, Microsoft's own gender gap is about the same as most other high-tech giants. Right now, it stands at about 29 percent women, up from 24 percent last year. That mirrors demographics at Facebook, Google and Twitter, which also track largely male (Asian and white).

“Diversity needs to be a source of strength and competitive advantage for us,” Microsoft's executive vice president of human resources, Lisa Brummel, recently told Fortune. “We can all agree that much work remains to be done to increase the diversity of our company and the tech industry.”

Where do technology solution providers stand on this issue? The progress of women in the high-tech channel is chronicled annually by CRN. Still, it is telling that out of the dozen companies IT Best of Breed contacted about this issue, only three offered commentary. None offer a mentoring program that is gender-specific, but all agree that nurturing a pipeline of great candidates needs to start far earlier than high school or university. Here are their perspectives.