There are more men named John running American companies than women

Just in case you thought you saw a crack in the glass ceiling, Justin Wolfers at The Upshot is here to clear up that pesky gender inequality question with a few helpful graphs.

For every female CEO of S&P 1500 firms, there are four men named John, Robert, William, or James. In fact, only one in 25 of these large firms is run by a woman.

Wolfers also focused his so-called Glass Ceiling Index on Congress, where there is slightly less depressing news. On the Republican side of the Senate, female legislators are outnumbered by men named John, Robert, James, and Williams by a ratio of 2.17 to 1. But — hooray! — the ratio is slightly better in the House (1.36 to 1).

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On the Democratic side, we might as well break out the champagne, since women actually outnumber the Jims, Bobs, Jacks, and Bills in both the House and Senate at a ratio of 0.3 to 1.

Wolfers does point out that The Glass Ceiling index isn’t perfect and will certainly change with the millennial generation of names. But, he adds, "it does point out an important truth — that in many important decision-making areas of American life, women remain vastly outnumbered."

Amen.