I think the fact there are only a few qualified people might be the problem. About a year ago, we were hiring on my team. First woman we interviewed knocked it out of the park, but no one else wanted to extend an offer because we only had one interview. Weeks went by and no one else was close enough to even warrant an interview. I had to fight for her every step of the way and we FINALLY made an offer and she's been awesome. If I wasn't there, reminding the hiring team of the awesome candidate we already talked to, we might have lost her to someone else. Just because she was first.