Just when you thought we were making progress in the fight for gender equality a new report has been released that revealed there are fewer women CEOs in the workforce than CEOs named John. That’s right, more men named John run companies than women altogether!

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The US study conducted by Ernst and Young says: “Only 16 per cent of S&P 1500 board seats are held by women – less than the proportion of seats held by directors named John, Robert, James and William.”

This means that for every women on the board, there are four Johns, Roberts, James’ and Williams’. That’s not even including blokes with a different name. Furthermore, the study also went on to reveal that the proportion of women on boards has increased by “only 5 percentage point over the last 10 years.”

And while it’s still positive that the number has actually increased, Ernst and Young revealed that the companies had grown in size, raising the question as to whether “boards are holistically refreshing or simply adding more directors?”

So does this mean that the gender gap isn’t closing like we’re led to believe and findings are actually based on larger board sizes?

“In general, more women are being appointed to board and executive leadership positions though change continues to be gradual,” according to the study.

They say slow and steady wins the race, but if this study is anything to go by it appears the race is dominated by males. So let me ask you: Should we be stepping outside our comfort zones and pushing even harder for more female contenders, or is the corporate hierarchy just more appealing to men?