Does the glass ceiling exist? According to most of what we read, it does. Women, we are told, have only a limited impact on the commercial world. Every year, Cranfield University publishes its Female FTSE report, which laments a lack of women in the boardrooms of listed companies. The resulting headlines reinforce the view that, more than 30 years after the Equal Opportunities Commission was set up, women in the UK are still not achieving positions of power and influence. A great deal of hand-wringing ensues – and much talk of Norway (where the law says every public company must have 40 per cent female representation on its board by the end of 2007 or face being delisted). Then there is a period of calm until the next year’s report is published.

This hand-wringing is not restricted to the UK. In India, Delhi-based Prime Database has released statistics showing that less than 5 per cent of Indian public company directors are women. “Women are an endangered species inside the Indian boardroom,” said Prithi Haldia of Prime Database. “Progress,” said Poorvi Sheth of Shilputsi, a prominent Mumbai-based executive search firm, is “decidedly slow”.