The Upshot blog over at the New York Times created a “Glass Ceiling Index” that compares how many women hold jobs at the top of the career ladder compared to men named John, Robert, William, or James. The results were upsetting. The Jameses, Roberts, Johns, and Williams of America outnumber women in CEO tallies at S&P 1500 firms, in lists of economics professors, on corporate boards, and among House and Senate Republicans.
As for the White House, Justin Wolfers writes, “The United States, which has never had a female president, has had six named James, five named John and four named William. Thus, even if Hillary Clinton were to be elected, the Glass Ceiling Index would be 15.”
The only less-than-depressing thing to come out of the analysis is this correction, which would look very odd out of context: “An earlier version of this article, and an accompanying chart, gave an incorrect ratio for the number of Jims, Bobs, Jacks and Bills to women in the American population. It is 0.12 to 1, not 0.24 to 1.”
