Sad to say, there is still a glass ceiling for women trying to rise to the highest ranks in business, but rarely do you get to see just how widespread the problem really is, even in a place that’s reputedly as forward-thinking as California.  

According to a recent University of California, Davis, study, only 11.6 percent of executives in California’s 400 largest public companies are women. But, that’s not the surprising part. The big shock is that in Santa Clara County—the heart of future-oriented Silicon Valley—“only 9 percent of companies … have promoted a woman to a top post,” according to a story on the UC Davis study in the San Jose Mercury News.  In addition, “only 7 percent of corporate boards include even one woman,” and as the newspaper points out, the study suggests that the role of women in corporations has changed relatively little in decades.

“The numbers are abysmal,” Nicole Woolsey Biggart, dean of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, told the Mercury News. “What has absolutely dumbfounded me is [that] we look just like the Industrial Belt. We don’t look any different to me. That is the big shock.”

The story goes on to point out that “Some experts in workplace and gender issues say the study’s statistics underscore deep problems that involve social issues, the educational system, and how businesses recruit and treat women.” Added Biggart: “It’s as if women are just invisible. Women [just] aren’t being groomed the way men are being groomed.”

No one should really be shocked that the glass ceiling still exists. We’ve written about some of the reasons a number of times   and even highlighted companies like Cigna that are committed to breaking through it. The shock is how thick the barrier still is in Silicon Valley, an area generally lauded for companies with forward-thinking workforce practices. Does it have anything to do with fact that Internet companies are still largely founded and nurtured by engineering nerds, who tend to be male and perhaps more inclined to hang out with—and hire or promote—their techie brethren?

What do we need to do to really, truly break down the glass ceiling that exists for women and minority groups? How can we get more diversity into the executive ranks, in Silicon Valley and elsewhere? Do you have an idea or suggestion? If so, attach a comment here, or e-mail me at jhollon@workforce.com.